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ABUJA – After hours of deliberation, the Federal Government and members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), on Tuesday, came to a compromise to avert a planned nationwide strike that would have grounded the health sector.
Among the stakeholders, who engaged in a brainstorming meeting to avert the strike, include the Ministers of Labour, Health, and Finance, the Director-General of the Budget Office, the Accountant-General, representatives of IPPIS, Cash Management, and the NARD executive led by Dr. Mohamed Suleiman.
Recall that threats came from members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) which had issued an ultimatum for an indefinite nationwide strike starting at 8:00a.m. on Monday, August 10, 2026.
Their grievances centred around unpaid salary arrears, rising security threats to medical personnel, and unresolved institutional welfare violations some of which involved unpaid salaries and allowances.
For instance, NARD had demanded immediate implementation of CONMESS arrears, urging the government to shore it up from 25% to 35%.
NARD is also seeking the settlement of 19 months of accumulated unpaid professional allowance arrears, among other grievances.
But after the meeting which held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, under the chairmanship of Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajiabamila, all parties settled for a one-week period to settle call duty allowance of LUTH workers.
They also agreed on salary arrears and promotion arrears, including professional allowance templates. Dr. Suleiman, who spoke on behalf of his team, lauded the intervention of the Chief of Staff, saying medical professionals are not adverse to dialogue.
The NARD president also admitted that the Chief of Staff has taken it upon himself to initiate legislation in the National Assembly so that assault on health workers will be classified as an aggravated offence.
Suleiman said, “I want to put it on record that this is not the first time the Chief of Staff has intervened in matters relating to resident doctors in this country. About six or seven years ago, when he was Speaker of the House of Representatives, he intervened, and each time he has gotten involved, our matters have been resolved. And today, I can tell you our matters have been resolved.
“Resolved in the sense that timelines have been agreed upon by various agencies of government. On salary arrears and promotion arrears, we are talking about a one-week timeline. On the call duty allowance issue in LUTH, we have also agreed on a one-week timeline for implementation.
“We have also agreed on the number of house officers to be engaged. And we have agreed that house officers should not have to wait for a whole month before receiving the previous month’s salary. A standing order has been given that before the 10th of every month, salaries of house officers must be paid.
“We also discussed promotion arrears, and as I mentioned, a one-week timeline has been agreed. On the professional allowance table, the government has made more concessions today on this matter.
“We understand that there are still a few things that need to be clarified.
There is an outstanding amount which is not as high as we initially thought. Hopefully, the DG Budget will give us a timeline for when that will be paid.
They have also extensively discussed mechanisms to raise these funds and pay us.
“On the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the Chief of Staff has charged the Ministers of Labour and Health to fast-track its completion so that we will have the circulars and computations for budgetary purposes. Whatever is agreed in the CBA will be captured in next year’s budget for implementation.
“Like I said, the conversations have been very robust. I would also like to summarise our discussion on the issue of harassment and assault of doctors.
I have always said the truth: 31 doctors have been assaulted, and more than 20 other health workers have been assaulted in the last 10 months.
“Today, we have agreed that the Ministry of Health will issue directives to hospitals to beef up security and create safe spaces. The Ministry of Health will also engage in public education to ensure that health workers are not assaulted”.
