The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has threatened to resume a nationwide strike over unresolved welfare issues, including unpaid salary arrears, promotion backlogs, and disputes surrounding professional allowances, despite ongoing talks with the Federal Government.
The association said the warning followed an extraordinary virtual meeting of its National Executive Council, where members reviewed what they described as slow implementation of previous agreements reached with government authorities.
In a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Dr Shuaibu Ibrahim, the doctors said members across federal, state, and private health institutions had been directed to remain on alert for possible industrial action should negotiations fail to produce concrete outcomes.
At the centre of the dispute is the Professional Allowance Table, a remuneration framework doctors say is critical to standardising payments and improving welfare across Nigeria’s health institutions. NARD insists the framework must be fully reinstated, alongside the immediate payment of outstanding promotion arrears and salary adjustments owed to resident doctors nationwide.
The association is also demanding the prompt release of the 2026 Medical Residency Training Fund, warning that delays in disbursement could affect specialist training programmes and weaken capacity development within the health sector.
Government officials, however, say significant progress has already been made.
The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said recent reforms had increased health workers’ professional allowances by nearly ₦90 billion annually, covering call duty, shift duty, rural posting, and non-clinical duty allowances. Officials described the dispute as stemming partly from structural and policy issues rather than outright neglect of previous agreements.
The latest threat raises fresh concerns over service disruptions in public hospitals, where resident doctors form a large share of frontline emergency and specialist care staff.
Nigeria has witnessed repeated industrial actions by resident doctors in recent years, with unions blaming chronic underfunding, delayed payments, and poor working conditions for recurring breakdowns in negotiations. A planned strike earlier this year was suspended after fresh commitments from the Federal Government, but tensions have continued over the pace of implementation.
For patients and hospital administrators, the renewed warning revives fears of delayed surgeries, overcrowded emergency wards, and disruptions to specialist clinics if both sides fail to reach a new agreement.
NARD said it remains open to dialogue but stressed that doctors’ welfare and the stability of Nigeria’s healthcare system depend on urgent action from relevant authorities.