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The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has announced plans to resume its nationwide industrial action from 12:00 a.m. on Monday, January 12, 2026, following the government’s failure to implement agreed welfare demands.
The decision was communicated in an update issued on Friday by the association’s National Officers Committee (NOC) after its expanded National Executive Council (E-NEC) meeting held on January 2, 2026.
According to the statement, the council resolved to proceed with TICS 2.0 under the slogan “No Implementation, No Going Back” because of the failure to implement agreements reached with the government.
As part of the mobilisation strategy, NARD directed presidents of its 91 centres nationwide to convene congress meetings and hold press conferences at their respective centres within the next seven days.
The association also announced that centre-based protests would take place from January 12 to January 16, 2026. This will be followed by regional protests coordinated by caucus leaders and later by a national protest organised by the NARD NOC.
NARD said the suspension of the action would only be considered after the full implementation of its minimum demands.
These include the reinstatement of five resident doctors from the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja; payment of promotion and salary arrears; and full implementation of the professional allowance table with arrears captured in the 2026 budget.
Other demands listed are official clarification on skipping and entry-level placement by the Federal Ministry of Health & Social Welfare to Chief Executives, Reintroduction and implementation of the Specialist Allowance, resolution of house officers’ salary delays and arrears, and the issuance of a pay advisory.
The association also demanded the re-categorisation of membership certificates and the issuance of certificates post-Part I by the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, the commencement of locum and work-hours regulation committees, and the resumption and timely conclusion of the collective bargaining agreement process.
The association said the one-week window before the resumption of the action was to allow “proper congress meetings, media engagement, and statutory notifications of the planned protest to security personnel (DSS, Commissioner of Police, Civil Defence) as well as hospital management.”
The planned action follows a warning issued by NARD on December 28, when it cautioned that Nigeria was heading toward another nationwide shutdown of medical services over the government’s failure to honour a memorandum of understanding.
NARD had suspended a 29-day strike on November 29, 2025, after the government committed to implementing its demands within four weeks, a deadline the association said elapsed without visible progress.
During the strike, about 11,000 resident doctors across 91 federal and state teaching hospitals withdrew their services, significantly disrupting healthcare delivery nationwide.
