…cites national interest, high-level presidency intervention, others
The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has suspended its planned nationwide strike following what it described as significant progress recorded on its demands through sustained engagements with the Federal Government and other key stakeholders.
The decision was taken at a virtual Emergency National Executive Council (E-NEC) meeting held on January 11, 2026, where the association reviewed the status of its demands and assessed recent developments.
The association said the suspension followed direct presidential intervention led by Vice President Kashim Shettima on behalf of President Bola Tinubu.
The suspension, the Secretary-General of NARD, Dr. Shuaibu Ibrahim, said is strategic and conditional, allowing the NEC to review tangible progress at its January meeting scheduled to commence on January 25, 2026
A source familiar with the negotiations said significant progress has been made behind the scenes in the past week, altering the Nigeria Association of Resident Doctors’ (NARD) stance.
“In the last one week, there has been a lot of progress that has been made. Most of all of those progresses are at a very, very higher level, at the level of the presidency, as a matter of fact,” the source said.
The source said tensions escalated over the handling of the issues by the Health Ministry leadership, particularly Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, prompting political intervention.
“To emphasize the seriousness of the issue, I learnt that Minister Pate was called to order and also appealed to, trying to balance the things,” the source said.
According to the source, several stakeholders were drawn into the talks, including hospital chief executives and top political actors.
“Committee of CMDs, they met him a couple of times and he also had intervention from, I think, the top officials of APC. At a time, they started to fly the kite of political undertones and opposition involvement, so this led to APC leadership coming in to intervene and ascertain the facts,” the source said.
The engagements, the source added, helped decision-makers better understand the doctors’ grievances.
“So, they are trying to get information from those at the receiving end of the agitation, the resident doctors,” the source said.
The insider said the interventions have translated into concrete actions, including directives on outstanding payments.
Explaining why the union may hold back on the strike, the source said industrial action is only a means to an end.
“Strike, in the real sense, is not for the purpose of just being down-tooling. It’s like a tool to get something,” the source said.
Despite the progress, the NARD leadership is under pressure from members kept in the dark about the talks.
“We are getting a lot of bashing from our members because there is so much information that we can still not reveal to them,” the source said.
He expressed confidence the anger would subside once results become visible, saying, “By the time they start to see that the issues are being addressed, anomalies corrected and outstanding pays received, the members would appreciate the efforts”.
However, according to the Secretary-General, Dr. Ibrahim, in a summary of the union’s Sunday NEC meeting, the lingering crisis at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja, was resolved following the implementation of the report of an earlier committee set up by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
In addition, a new reconciliation committee comprising Chief Medical Directors, the Ministry and NARD has been constituted to ensure all resident doctors remain at the hospital and to broker lasting peace between the Association of Resident Doctors and the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria at the facility.
On the outstanding 25 and 35 percent Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) arrears, the association said verified lists had been forwarded to the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, adding that the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment had written to the Ministry of Finance and Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) to facilitate payment. Similar progress was reported on the accoutrement allowance.
NARD also said lists of promotion and salary arrears had been transmitted by the Health Ministry to the Ministry of Finance and the Budget Office, noting that the Minister of State for Finance had acknowledged receipt and that engagements were ongoing to agree on a clear and expedited payment plan.
On entry-level placement, the association said the Director of Hospital Services would communicate with hospital chief executives to reinforce a clarification from the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation recognising CONMESS 3 as the entry level for doctors.
It further disclosed that a multi-stakeholder committee comprising the Health Ministry, Chief Medical Directors, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and NARD had been set up on locum practice and work-hour regulation, with preliminary activities already underway.
Concrete steps were also said to have been taken toward full implementation of specialist allowances.
Addressing house officers’ welfare, NARD said the Ministry of Labour had intervened, while the health ministry would formally engage the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and IPPIS on salary delays and arrears.
The NEC also noted progress on membership re-categorisation, professional allowance implementation, and efforts to ensure salary and allowance gains at the federal level are reflected in state and private health facilities.
Based on what it described as firm commitments from critical stakeholders, including the Ministries of Health, Labour and Finance, the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, IPPIS, the Budget Office, the National Assembly, the Department of State Services and the Vice President, NARD said it unanimously resolved to suspend the resumption of its planned strike action, tagged TICS 2.0.
