Sacked Lagos Doctors: Court Upholds Jurisdiction, Capacity Of Medical Guild To Sue; Trial to Commence In June

By SaharaReporters, New York

The National Industrial Court today in Lagos ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear the dispute between the sacked Lagos doctors and the Lagos State Government. The suit was brought before the court by a medical guild on behalf of striking doctors sacked by the state government. The case has now been adjourned to June 19, 2012 for commencement of proceedings.
On Tuesday, the Lagos State Government had asked the industrial court to throw out the suit. The government counsel, Ade Ipaye, had also filed a preliminary objection questioning the jurisdiction of the National Industrial Court to hear the case.
The medical guild had earlier released a statement alleging that Lagos State had designed a malicious plan to prolong the crisis in the state’s healthcare sector by thwarting all moves by various quarters to resolve the feud between striking doctors and the government.
At a court session on Tuesday, Mr. Ipaye had contested the capacity of the chairman of the medical guild, Mr. Olumuyiwa Odusote, and the guild’s secretary, Mr. Idris Oloyede, to file a suit on behalf of the sacked doctors. Mr. Ipaye contended that the guild was not an
incorporated trade union and, as such, was not known to law. The government’s counsel had also questioned the NIC’s jurisdiction on the matter.
Mr. Ipaye’s two pre-trial objections had hindered the hearing of the case and forced the court to adjourn.
However, the court today upheld the right of the duo of Mr. Odusote and Mr. Oloyede to sue on behalf of the striking doctors. In addition, the court ruled that the NIC has jurisdiction to hear the case between the sacked doctors and the Lagos State Government.
The feud between the doctors and Lagos State has led to the closure of public hospitals in the state. Some doctors allege that some officials of the Lagos State Government have exploited the ensuing medical crisis to rush abroad in the guise of seeking routine healthcare. Two weeks ago, there were reports that Governor Raji Fashola had flown his own
father abroad for medical treatment.
While many patients who depend on the public hospitals have blamed the increasing patient mortality rates on the striking doctors’ greed, several doctors counter that they have offered free health services to patients in private hospitals under their control.
There is increasing anxiety that public hospitals in Lagos may remain shut for long as there are few signs of any early resolution of the dispute between the sacked doctors and the Lagos State Government.