The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, is set to suspend its planned nationwide strike after reaching agreements with the Federal Government on several issues affecting its members.
The development followed a three-hour meeting between the doctors and the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Tuesday evening.
NARD President, Dr Muhammad Suleiman, said the meeting produced firm commitments and timelines for resolving outstanding issues involving salaries, promotions, allowances, welfare and the safety of doctors and other health workers.
“Today, I can tell you, our matters are solved,” Suleiman told journalists after the meeting.
However, the NARD president stopped short of formally announcing the suspension of the strike, saying he would first brief the association’s National Executive Council, NEC, before a final decision was taken.
The doctors had threatened to begin an indefinite nationwide strike from August 10 if the Federal Government failed to address their demands.
The planned industrial action had raised concerns within the health sector because resident doctors form a major part of the workforce in many public teaching hospitals, federal medical centres and specialist hospitals across the country.
The Tuesday meeting was convened by Gbajabiamila and was attended by the Ministers of Labour, Health and Finance, the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, the Accountant-General of the Federation and officials involved in cash management and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
Suleiman said the presence of key government officials helped the association secure specific commitments on many of the issues that had led to the strike threat.
“Timelines have been agreed upon by various agencies of government on salary and promotion areas,” he said.
He said the meeting also addressed the issue of meals for resident doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH.
“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,” he said.
Another major issue discussed was the payment of salaries to house officers.
House officers are newly qualified medical doctors undergoing a mandatory one-year internship before progressing further in their careers. NARD had raised concerns over delays in the payment of their salaries, with some reportedly waiting for previous months’ salaries before receiving payment.
Suleiman said the Presidency had now issued a standing directive aimed at ending the delay.
“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,” he said.
“In fact, he has given a standing order that before the 10th of every month, salaries of house officers must be paid.”
The association also discussed the long-awaited Collective Bargaining Agreement between NARD and the Federal Government.
Suleiman said the Ministries of Labour and Health had been directed by the Presidency to speed up negotiations on the agreement.
According to him, the aim is to complete the process early enough for the agreed terms to be included in the 2027 budget and implemented.
“The conversations have been very, very robust,” the NARD president said.
The issue of unpaid allowances was also addressed during the meeting.
Suleiman explained that the dispute over hazard and specialist allowances had lasted for several years.
According to him, the problem started about seven years ago when resident doctors were paid only 40 per cent of their accrued allowances instead of the full amount.
He said the administration of President Bola Tinubu corrected the payment shortfall in February 2026 but did not clear the entire backlog.
He said a 19-month gap, dating back to July 2024, remained outstanding.
The doctors have repeatedly complained that unpaid allowances and other financial issues have affected their morale and welfare, adding to the pressure on a health system already facing challenges such as staff shortages, poor working conditions and the migration of medical professionals.
The meeting also addressed the increasing cases of attacks on doctors and other health workers.
Suleiman said NARD had recorded 31 doctors and more than 20 other health workers being assaulted within the past 10 months.
He said the Federal Government had agreed to strengthen security in hospitals and create safer working environments for medical personnel.
“Today we have agreed. The Ministry of Health is going to release directives to their hospitals to beef up security and create safe spaces,” he said.
He added that the ministry would also engage the public through an awareness campaign on the need to protect health workers.
The Chief of Staff, according to Suleiman, also agreed to support legislative action aimed at protecting health workers from attacks.
“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 assaulting health workers an aggravated offence,” he said.
NARD welcomed the proposed legislation, saying it would send a strong message that violence against health workers would not be tolerated.
The planned strike had been announced after NARD’s National Executive Council reviewed the implementation of previous agreements with the Federal Government.
The association had issued a communiqué after its meeting in Gombe State, warning that it would begin a total and comprehensive strike at 8 a.m. on August 10 if its demands were not addressed.
The demands included payment of salary arrears, resolution of promotion issues, payment of allowances, improvement in working conditions and stronger protection for doctors and other health workers.
Resident doctors are doctors undergoing postgraduate specialist training. They provide a large part of medical services in Nigeria’s public teaching hospitals and specialist health institutions, making any prolonged strike likely to affect patients across the country.
Previous strikes by resident doctors have led to the disruption of medical services, cancellation of appointments and delays in treatment in public hospitals.
The possibility of another nationwide strike had therefore raised concerns among patients and health sector stakeholders.
Following Tuesday’s meeting, however, there are indications that the industrial action may be avoided.
Suleiman said Gbajabiamila had intervened in previous disputes involving resident doctors and had always helped to resolve the issues.
“This is not the first time the Chief of Staff has intervened in matters relating to resident doctors in this country,” he said.
He recalled that Gbajabiamila had also intervened in issues involving the doctors several years ago when he was Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“Whenever he came into our issues, our matters were solved,” Suleiman said.
Despite the progress made at the meeting, the NARD president stressed that he could not personally call off the strike without consulting the association’s leadership.
“I can’t stand here and tell you I have called off a strike,” he said.
“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.”
Suleiman said he would brief members of the National Executive Council on the agreements reached with the government before a final decision was made.
“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,” he said.
The development has raised hopes that the planned August 10 strike will be averted, provided the government meets the agreed timelines.
For patients who rely heavily on public hospitals, a suspension of the planned action would prevent another disruption to healthcare services.
NARD’s final position is expected after its NEC considers the commitments made by the Federal Government during the meeting.
Until then, the doctors’ planned strike remains suspended in expectation, rather than formally called off.