The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has issued the Federal Government a fresh four-week ultimatum to resolve longstanding welfare issues affecting resident doctors across the country or face another round of industrial action, signalling renewed tensions in Nigeria’s public health sector.<\/p>\n
The association warned that it could no longer guarantee industrial harmony beyond the four-week window if the government failed to address its demands, including the payment of 19 months’ professional allowance arrears, outstanding salary and promotion arrears, and the release of the 2026 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF).<\/p>\n
The decision was reached at the end of the association’s Extraordinary National Executive Council (E-NEC) meeting held virtually.<\/p>\n
In a communiqu\u00e9 signed by its President, Dr Mohammed Suleiman, NARD formally declared an industrial dispute with the Federal Government over unresolved welfare issues affecting resident doctors nationwide.<\/p>\n
“The Council further declared an industrial dispute with the Federal Government of Nigeria over the unresolved issues outlined above. It warned that the Association cannot guarantee industrial harmony beyond the four-week window if all its demands are not fully addressed,” the communiqu\u00e9 stated.<\/p>\n
The association directed its National Officers’ Committee to activate all necessary procedures for possible industrial action should the government fail to comply within the stipulated period.<\/p>\n
Among its key demands is the immediate payment of the outstanding 19 months’ professional allowance arrears and the settlement of salary and promotion arrears owed doctors in several federal and state health institutions.<\/p>\n
NARD also demanded that the Federal Government release the 2026 Medical Residency Training Fund to eligible resident doctors within 21 days.<\/p>\n
The association expressed concern over the persistent delay in the payment of salaries and other entitlements to House Officers, describing the situation as unacceptable.<\/p>\n
“The continued hardship imposed on House Officers through delayed remuneration is unacceptable and will no longer be tolerated,” it warned.<\/p>\n
The resident doctors also called for the payment of arrears arising from the 25\/35 per cent upward review of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), condemned the refusal of some hospital managements to provide call meals for doctors on duty, and warned that such anti-welfare practices could jeopardise industrial peace in the health sector.<\/p>\n
On the situation at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife, the association demanded an immediate end to what it described as the victimisation, intimidation and harassment of resident doctors.<\/p>\n
It also rejected attempts to reintroduce bench fees for resident doctors in private tertiary health institutions, insisting that the existing government circular abolishing the practice remains in force.<\/p>\n
While reaffirming its commitment to dialogue, NARD maintained that it would not hesitate to embark on industrial action if its demands remained unresolved at the expiration of the ultimatum.<\/p>\n
History of disputes<\/p>\n
The latest ultimatum continues a pattern of recurring industrial disputes between NARD and successive federal authorities over doctors’ welfare, remuneration and working conditions.<\/p>\n
Although the association did not embark on a nationwide strike in 2024, it repeatedly issued warnings over delays in implementing agreements on allowances, salary adjustments and residency training funding, while engaging government through negotiations.<\/p>\n
The disputes escalated in 2025. After issuing several ultimatums over unpaid allowances, delayed implementation of agreements and worsening welfare conditions, NARD commenced a nationwide warning strike before proceeding to an indefinite nationwide industrial action in November after negotiations with the Federal Government failed to produce the desired results.<\/p>\n
The strike disrupted services in public tertiary hospitals across the country, with the association insisting that resident doctors were owed billions of naira in salaries and allowances accumulated over several years. Among the issues raised were unpaid professional allowances, outstanding Medical Residency Training Fund payments, salary arrears and concerns over the migration of doctors from Nigeria’s health sector. The strike was later suspended following renewed negotiations with the Federal Government and fresh commitments to address the outstanding issues.<\/p>\n
However, many of the grievances remained unresolved, prompting fresh disagreements in early 2026. Earlier this year, the association again threatened industrial action over delays in implementing previously agreed welfare packages and payment of outstanding entitlements before temporarily suspending the planned action to allow further negotiations.<\/p>\n
The latest four-week ultimatum suggests that despite repeated negotiations and government assurances, the underlying issues fuelling industrial unrest in Nigeria’s health sector remain unresolved, raising fears of another disruption to healthcare services if both parties fail to reach a lasting agreement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has issued the Federal Government a fresh four-week ultimatum to resolve longstanding welfare issues affecting resident doctors across the country or face another round of industrial action, signalling renewed tensions in Nigeria’s public health sector. The association warned that it could no longer guarantee industrial harmony beyond the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":67157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5773,7],"tags":[872,1302,1636,4641],"class_list":["post-99492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","category-news","tag-doctor","tag-four","tag-strike","tag-welfare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99492"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99493,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99492\/revisions\/99493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/67157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}