Abuja, Nigeria — The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has issued a 30-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to address a series of unresolved welfare, policy, and structural demands affecting its members, warning that failure to act could trigger further industrial action across the health sector.
The ultimatum, announced in a communiqué signed by NARD President, Dr. Mohammad Suleiman, Secretary-General Dr. Shuaibu Ibrahim, and Publicity and Social Secretary Dr. Abdulmajid Ibrahim, followed the association’s 45th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference held in Katsina State from September 21 to 26, 2025.
The conference, themed “Mitigating Health Worker Migration Through Extra-Remuneration Incentives: A Strategy for Sustainable Development,” highlighted mounting challenges in Nigeria’s health sector — including poor working conditions, unpaid salaries, stalled promotions, and worsening brain drain.
NARD’s new leadership, led by Dr. Suleiman, also reviewed the government’s response to a recent five-day warning strike in September. The strike, suspended after two days, followed partial payment of the Medical Residency Training Fund. However, most of the association’s demands remain unmet.
The doctors are demanding immediate payment of all outstanding salary arrears, promotion entitlements, and the reinstatement of five sacked doctors from the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja. They also want the Federal Government to complete the long-overdue review of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), which has not been updated in over 16 years, and to release corrected professional allowance tables.
The communiqué further decried the unsafe and excessive call-duty hours imposed on doctors, warning of the toll on their physical and mental health. As part of its resolutions, NARD directed that, effective October 1, 2025, no member should work more than 24 consecutive hours of call duty, in line with international best practices.
It also condemned the casualisation of doctors, the exclusion of house officers from the Civil Service Scheme, deteriorating hospital infrastructure, and the government’s failure to implement agreed special pension benefits.
NARD voiced strong opposition to the creation of consultant cadres for non-medical doctors and the downgrading of postgraduate membership recognition, warning that these policies undermine medical professionalism and training standards. The association demanded the immediate restoration of the status of West African postgraduate membership certificates and urged the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria to promptly issue membership certificates to qualified candidates.
It also called for a decentralised and streamlined promotion process for doctors to improve training efficiency and clinical service delivery, as well as the inclusion of house officers in the civil service payroll with timely payment and issuance of payslips.
With brain drain crippling the health workforce, NARD urged the government to adopt a one-for-one replacement policy that allows hospitals to replace doctors immediately after resignations, retirements, or departures. This, the group said, would reduce the workload on remaining staff and ensure continuous patient care. The communiqué also singled out Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, urging him to address the lingering welfare challenges faced by resident doctors at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomosho.
Beyond immediate welfare issues, NARD vowed to intensify advocacy efforts with the National Assembly to secure increased budgetary allocations for healthcare and training in the 2026 Appropriation Act. It also reiterated the demand for the full implementation of CONMESS circulars across all tiers of government and healthcare institutions, including universities, research bodies, and regulatory agencies.
Finally, the doctors encouraged medical entrepreneurship among members as a way to diversify income streams and strengthen Nigeria’s fragile healthcare system.
With the clock now ticking toward the October 26 deadline, the Federal Government faces mounting pressure to avert a potential nationwide disruption in healthcare delivery if the doctors’ demands remain unmet.
