The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) is set to suspend its planned nationwide strike following a three-hour meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Tuesday.
NARD President, Dr Muhammad Suleiman, said the meeting resulted in agreements on timelines for addressing outstanding issues involving salaries, promotions, allowances and welfare concerns that had pushed the association towards industrial action.
“Today, I can tell you, our matters are solved,” Suleiman told journalists after the meeting, although he said the formal suspension of the strike would be subject to approval by the association’s National Executive Council.
The meeting, convened by Gbajabiamila, 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 other government officials responsible for payroll and financial management.
Suleiman said government agencies had agreed on specific timelines to resolve several disputes, including issues relating to salary payments, promotions and allowances.
He disclosed that an agreement had also been reached on the payment of meal allowances for resident doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, with implementation expected within a week.
The NARD president said measures had also been introduced to address delays in the payment of salaries to house officers, adding that a directive had been issued for their monthly salaries to be paid before the 10th day of every month.
On the long-awaited Collective Bargaining Agreement between NARD and the Federal Government, Suleiman said the Ministries of Labour and Health had been directed to accelerate discussions so that agreed provisions could be incorporated into the next budget cycle.
The association also raised concerns over increasing attacks on medical personnel, revealing that 31 doctors and more than 20 other healthcare workers had been assaulted within the past 10 months.
Suleiman said the Ministry of Health had agreed to issue directives requiring hospitals to strengthen security measures and establish safer working environments for health workers.
He added that Gbajabiamila had committed to supporting legislative action that would make assaults against healthcare workers an aggravated offence.
The NARD president further addressed the dispute over unpaid hazard and specialist allowances, explaining that the issue dated back several years after previous administrations paid only part of the allowances owed to resident doctors.
He said the current administration had corrected the shortfall from February 2026 but had not fully cleared the accumulated arrears, leaving outstanding payments from July 2024.
Suleiman declined to disclose the exact amount involved, saying discussions with government officials had shown that the outstanding liability was lower than initially estimated and could be more manageable for the government.
He said the Budget Office was expected to provide a clear timeline for payment.
While expressing confidence that the meeting had significantly addressed NARD’s concerns, Suleiman said he could not independently announce the suspension of the strike without consulting the association’s National Executive Council.
“I can’t stand here and tell you I have called off a strike. What I’ll do is report everything back to the council, and we will take a decision,” he said.
A source familiar with the discussions, however, said NARD leadership had privately assured the Chief of Staff that the planned strike would be called off, adding that Gbajabiamila had pushed for an immediate resolution during the meeting.
The development followed NARD’s threat to begin an indefinite nationwide strike from 10 August over unresolved issues, including salary arrears, welfare challenges and the implementation of previous agreements with the Federal Government.
The association had issued the strike notice after a meeting of its National Executive Council in Gombe State, warning that industrial action would commence unless its demands were addressed before the deadline.
