• NARD says doctors have not received CONMESS, accoutrement payments
• Rejects MoU over lack of clear commitments, timelines

Twenty days after the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) began its nationwide strike, the union has refuted the Labour Ministry’s claims that progress is being made towards ending the strike.

NARD said the situation had only worsened because the government had not met any of its major demands and described the ministry’s statement issued yesterday as misleading and not reflective of the reality doctors were facing across the country.

In a communiqué signed by its President, Dr Mohammad Suleiman, NARD said it reviewed the government’s position during a recent council meeting and found that none of its 19 demands had been fully or properly implemented.

According to the union, the Ministry is presenting uncompleted processes, promises and committee inaugurations as actual achievements.

The association also refuted the government’s claim that payment of the revised 25/35 per cent CONMESS salary adjustment and the 2024 accoutrement allowance had started. NARD stressed that none of its members anywhere in the country had received the payments. It added that the government’s talk of trying to “reconcile” failed or omitted payments only highlighted the same administrative lapses doctors had complained about for years.

NARD further raised concerns about unresolved arrears in hospitals, such as FTH Lokoja, FMC Owo and UITH. It said the ministry’s admission that officials were still compiling lists to submit to the Budget Office showed how slow government action had been. The association argued that after years of discussions on these issues, still being at the list-compilation stage showed a lack of seriousness.

The doctors also criticised what they called the government’s habit of setting up committees to handle issues like manpower shortages, the casualisation of doctors and the recent disengagement of five doctors in Lokoja.

According to NARD, forming committees has become a delay tactic instead of a solution. The union demanded the immediate reinstatement of the affected doctors and the enforcement of the one-for-one replacement policy to ease workforce pressure in hospitals.

NARD also rejected the ministry’s claim that the union refused to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). It said it declined because the document contained no clear timelines and was built on promises that had not been fulfilled. Signing such an agreement, the association said, would not benefit doctors or the health sector.

Reaffirming its position, NARD said its total and indefinite strike, which began on November 1, 2025, would continue until the government met its minimum conditions, which include reinstating the disengaged doctors, paying corrected professional allowances, clearing outstanding arrears and implementing all pending welfare measures.