By The9jaTREND
The President Bola Tinubu-led government has called on the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to respect the laws of the country and immediately suspend its ongoing nationwide strike.
The government insisted that the administration had already met nearly all the demands presented by the Association.
In a statement issued on Wednesday and signed by the Head of Press and Public Relations at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Annah Daniel, the government said it had resolved nineteen out of the twenty demands listed by NARD.
According to the statement, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Mohammad Maigari Dingyadi, in Abuja, told the striking doctors to respect Nigeria’s labour regulations and international conventions.
“The Federal Government has enjoined the NARD to suspend its ongoing industrial action, as the government has already addressed nineteen out of the twenty demands listed by the Association,” the statement read.
Dingyadi warned that the association was violating labour laws by continuing the strike despite ongoing conciliation efforts.
According to the statement, “The Minister called on NARD to respect the Country’s laws and suspend its industrial action, reminding it that ‘by Labour Laws and ILO conventions’ When issues are conciliated, all parties are enjoined not to employ arm-twisting methods to intimidate or foist a state of helplessness on the other party; in this case, your employers, the Federal Ministry of Health.*
The minister argued that with most of the issues already addressed in several negotiation meetings, “NARD has no reason to continue the industrial strike.”
NARD embarked on a nationwide strike earlier in November 2025, citing unresolved issues related to remuneration, welfare, and working conditions.
The association has long complained of stagnant wages, unpaid arrears, and the chronic underfunding of federal hospitals.
Previous negotiations between the government and NARD, especially during the prolonged strikes of 2021 and 2023, yielded agreements that were not fully implemented, fueling distrust.
This year, resident doctors have protested what they described as worsening burnout due to manpower shortages, the exclusion of House Officers from the official Scheme of Service, and irregular payment of allowances.
They also demanded full payment of the Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) and the reversal of disengagement letters issued to some of their members in Kogi State.
The strike has stretched public hospitals nationwide, as resident doctors constitute the bulk of Nigeria’s clinical workforce.
Many teaching hospitals have scaled down services, while emergency units are under severe pressure.
But the minister listed several demands already met, including the “25%/35% upward review of CONMESS and the 2024 Accoutrements Allowances of the Association.”
He noted that the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) informed the government that payment “has commenced up to December 2024, except for those with bank issues or omission,” which both IPPIS and NARD were working to reconcile.
Dingyadi added that the “Specialist Allowance for Resident Doctors, Outstanding salaries and allowance arrears owed to Resident Doctors in several Federal and State Hospitals, FUHSTH Otukpo, FMC-Owo, UITH lorin, OAUTHC, UUTH Uyo, Special pension benefits as agreed with NMA in the MoU, were all accepted to compile the list of arrears owed to the Resident Doctors to FMOH for onward transmission to the budget office for action.”
The Minister further said that “the Disengaged Five (5) Resident Doctors from FTH Lokoja, Shortage of manpower with increased workload and burnout, House Officers’ exclusion from the Scheme of Service, Casualisation of Resident Doctors through abusive locum arrangements, necessary authorisation letters and committee were set up for necessary actions for positive reinstatement and postings by the FMoH&SW or as the case may be.”
On the matter of incorrect professional allowances, the minister said the Ministry of Health had engaged the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), which had been “directed that a circular be issued within two weeks.”
Dingyadi expressed concern that despite that “all health sector groups involved will be consulted for the purpose of convenience in line with the PSR 2021 and the FR to this end, NARD outrightly refused to sign the MOU.”
He called on the striking doctors to reconsider their position “in the interest of their patients and for the good of the nation.”
…Source: SaharaReporters