Strike: Nigerian Resident Doctors Tackle Tinubu Government For Claiming It Has Met Demands
Strike: Nigerian Resident Doctors Tackle Tinubu Government For Claiming It Has Met Demands
The association described the government’s claims as “inaccurate” and “a deliberate attempt to mislead the Nigerian public.”
The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) on Thursday countered claims by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment that the Nigerian government has met the majority of the union’s demands.
The association described the government’s claims as “inaccurate” and “a deliberate attempt to mislead the Nigerian public.”
SaharaReporters on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, reported that the Nigerian government told 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 union.
The strike, which began on November 1, was launched over unresolved issues concerning salaries, allowances, welfare, and persistent manpower shortages in Nigeria’s healthcare system.
But 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.
Dingyadi warned that the association was violating labour laws by continuing the strike despite ongoing conciliation efforts.
The minister argued that with most of the issues already addressed in several negotiation meetings, “NARD has no reason to continue the industrial strike.”
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.
But in a statement signed by its President, Dr Mohammad Suleiman; Secretary-General, Dr Shuaibu Ibrahim; and Publicity and Social Secretary, Dr Abdulmajid Yahya Ibrahim, NARD said its Extra-Ordinary National Executive Council (NEC) meeting had reviewed the government’s position and found that “not a single one of its 19 core demands has been fully or verifiably met.”
“What the Ministry characterises as progress is, in fact, unfulfilled promises, uncommenced payments, and newly formed committees, a familiar cycle of delay and deception that prompted this strike in the first place,” the union added.
NARD added that the claim that payment for the 25 per cent/35 per cent CONMESS review and 2024 accoutrement allowances had commenced was “at best, an anticipation of action, not action itself.”
According to NARD, “Our members across the country have not received these payments. Similarly, the claim of working to reconcile omissions and failed payments is an admission of an unresolved problem, not its solution. An announcement of intent is not a substitute for a credited salary.”
On outstanding arrears and allowances, NARD described the Ministry’s explanation that lists were being compiled for hospitals such as Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja; Federal Medical Centre, Owo; and University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, as “a startling admission of inaction.”
The union stated, “After years of dialogue, the fact that the government is still at the stage of compiling lists for the budget office confirms our central grievance: a crippling lack of urgency and implementation.”
The union also faulted the government’s reliance on committees to address issues such as the disengagement of doctors at FTH Lokoja, severe manpower shortages, and alleged casualisation.
“Constituting a committee is not a resolution; it is often a bureaucratic tool for indefinite postponement,” NARD stated.
“Our demand is for the immediate reinstatement of our colleagues in Lokoja and the concrete implementation of a one-for-one replacement policy to curb burnout, not the formation of another talking shop.”
NARD also rejected the Ministry’s claim that the association had refused to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
“We refuse to sign any Memorandum of Understanding that is built on a foundation of unfulfilled promises and lacks clear, binding, and time-bound deliverables.
“We will not be party to an agreement that merely papers over cracks while our members continue to suffer,” the union said.
NARD reiterated that its nationwide, total, indefinite strike would continue until its minimum demands are met.
These include the immediate reinstatement of the five disengaged doctors at FTH Lokoja with full compensation, payment of corrected professional allowances and all outstanding arrears, full implementation of the one-for-one replacement policy, specialist allowances, and resolution of all other outstanding issues previously communicated.
The union criticised the Ministry of Labour and Employment for “lecturing” doctors on respecting labour laws while allegedly disregarding workers’ rights and breaching agreed timelines.
“Our patience has been exhausted by years of conciliatory meetings that yield nothing but press releases filled with hollow victories,” the union said.
“NARD remains open to dialogue, but this dialogue must be result-oriented,” the statement added.
“We call on the government to shift its energy from crafting misleading press statements to undertaking the concrete actions required to resolve this crisis.
“The health of our nation is in the balance, and the responsibility to restore stability lies squarely with the government.”
