The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) on Tuesday stepped back from its planned nationwide strike following a high-level meeting with the Federal Government at the State House, Abuja, where both sides reached agreements on key welfare, salary and promotion issues.
The breakthrough came after a three-hour meeting convened by the President’s Chief of Staff, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, with senior government officials and the leadership of the association.
Among those at the meeting were the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi; Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate;
Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Taiwo Oyedele; the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation; the Accountant-General of the Federation; and officials responsible for cash management and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
Speaking with journalists after the meeting, NARD President, Dr. Muhammad Suleiman, said the discussions had substantially resolved the issues that prompted the association’s strike notice.
“Today, I can tell you, our matters are solved”, Suleiman declared.
He disclosed that both parties agreed on definite timelines for addressing outstanding salary payments, promotions and allowances that had threatened to trigger industrial action.
“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 became Speaker, it was the first opportunity he had to intervene, and he has always intervened. Whenever he came into our issues, our matters were solved”, he said.
According to him, “timelines have been agreed upon by various agencies of government on salary and promotion areas. We are talking about the meal issue at LUTH, we are talking about a week for implementation. We have agreed on a figure. We have agreed on numbers”.
Suleiman also announced a major breakthrough on the delayed payment of salaries to house officers, saying the Federal Government had issued a standing directive to ensure prompt remuneration.
“We also talked about house officers, so that they don’t have to wait a whole month before they get the previous month’s salaries. In fact, he has given a standing order that before the 10th of every month, salaries of house officers must be paid”, he said.
He further revealed that the Presidency had directed the Ministries of Labour and Employment and Health to fast-track negotiations on the Collective Bargaining Agreement with NARD so that any agreed financial commitments could be accommodated in the 2027 budget.
“The conversations have been very, very robust”, he added.
On the safety of medical personnel, Suleiman said the association raised concerns over the growing number of attacks on health workers, revealing that 31 doctors and more than 20 other health workers had been assaulted in the past 10 months.
He said the Federal Ministry of Health had agreed to issue directives to hospitals to strengthen security and create safer working environments, while also embarking on public enlightenment campaigns against violence towards health workers.
“The Ministry of Health is going to release directives to their hospitals to beef up security and create safe spaces. The Ministry of Health is going to engage the public in public education for health workers not to be assaulted”, he said.
The NARD President also disclosed that the Presidency had initiated plans to strengthen legal protection for health workers through new legislation.
“The Chief of Staff has taken it upon himself to introduce legislation so that the National Assembly can come in with something that will make assault on health workers an aggravated offence. We are very glad with that. We think it will send the right signal that health workers should not be assaulted”, he said.
Suleiman explained that discussions also covered the lingering dispute over unpaid hazard and specialist allowance arrears, tracing the problem to about seven years ago when resident doctors received only 40 per cent of their accrued entitlements.
While acknowledging that the Tinubu administration corrected the salary structure in February 2026, he said a 19-month backlog dating from July 2024 remained outstanding and formed part of the negotiations.
Despite expressing confidence in the outcome of the meeting, Suleiman said the association’s National Executive Council would take the final decision on formally suspending the strike notice.
“I can’t stand here and tell you I have called off a strike. What I’ll do, I have the utmost confidence that what he (Gbajabiamila) has done today has moved the needle to a very large extent to have solved our matters, and we’ll wait for more.
“I have National Executive Council members. I will have a conversation. I have to report all of this back. We sit down. We take a decision.
“The point is, the person that called us for this conversation has never failed resident doctors. That is what I am emphasising”, he said.
NARD had threatened to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike from August 10 over unresolved salary arrears, welfare concerns and other longstanding issues affecting resident doctors across federal health institutions.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
