The President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Mohammad Suleiman, has revealed that the association’s National Executive Council (NEC) has outlined specific conditions for suspending the ongoing indefinite strike.

Suleiman stated that NARD’s NEC has prioritized seven key issues that must be addressed before the strike can be called off.

He explained that, although three conciliation meetings were held and 19 items were discussed and agreed upon, the government has failed to implement any of the resolutions, except for the partial payment of the 25–35 per cent allowance.

Health services nationwide were paralysed when the strike began on November 1, 2025, with about 11,000 resident doctors across 91 teaching hospitals protesting poor working conditions and unpaid allowances. The disruption intensified on November 15 when the Joint Health Sector Unions launched their own indefinite strike, raising concerns about patient safety and hospital operations.

“We had three conciliation meetings. We agreed on all 19 items, and everyone recognized that all of them needed to be resolved, with timelines set for each,” Suleiman said.

According to him, the NEC has now streamlined its conditions to seven critical issues: the reinstatement of Lokoja doctors, release of the Professional Allowance Table, payment of promotion arrears, settlement of salary arrears in specific hospitals, implementation of upgrades for doctors who passed Part I exams and entry-level requirements, payment of specialist allowances, and resolution of the Membership Certificate issue.

“NEC said that once these matters are resolved, we will suspend the strike. That is our current position,” he added.

Suleiman noted that during negotiations, specific timelines were agreed upon for key actions, including compiling promotion arrears, calculating salary arrears across affected hospitals, issuing a letter to the Accountant-General on upgrade matters, and receiving clarification from the Head of Service regarding the entry-level downgrade for doctors from Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) three to CONMESS two.

He said, “Today is Friday, a full week after the deadlines, and these compilations have not been forwarded to the Minister of Finance or the Budget Office. The Head of Service has not provided clarification, and we still have no update on the Professional Allowance Table. Even the two-week extension granted on some issues has expired without progress.

“The Lokoja issue, agreed upon for resolution within two weeks from November 6, expired yesterday, and the report has yet to be submitted. None of the demands have been fully met, except the 25–35 per cent allowance, which remains incomplete—about 40 per cent of our members have not received the payment.

“We also agreed that the remittance payment report would be released by IPPIS last Friday, but it has still not been generated. For the accoutrement allowance for those on the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, the compiled list has encountered multiple problems, including cases of double payment.”