A Nigerian industrial court has ordered the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to halt plans for a nationwide strike scheduled to begin on 12 January.
Justice Emmanuel Subilim of the National Industrial Court in Abuja issued the restraining order on Friday after granting a motion filed by the Federal Government and the Attorney General of the Federation.
The application was argued ex parte by the Director of Civil Litigation at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Maimuna Lami Shiru, who led the government’s legal team.
Named as respondents in the suit are NARD, its national president, Dr Mohammad Suleiman, and its secretary general, Dr Shuaibu Ibrahim.
The ruling comes days after the association announced it would resume what it described as a “Total, Indefinite and Complete Strike” from 12 January, accusing the government of failing to implement agreements reached after an earlier walkout.
In a statement issued on 3 January, NARD said the decision was taken at an emergency meeting of its National Executive Council (NEC) held a day earlier.
The association argued that repeated deadlines agreed with the Federal Ministry of Health and other government agencies had been missed, leaving resident doctors with little choice but to return to industrial action.
Under its plans, NARD had directed presidents of its 91 centres nationwide to hold congress meetings and brief the media, with a series of coordinated press conferences and centre-based protests scheduled between 12 and 16 January.
In addition, regional and national protests also outlined as part of a broader escalation strategy.
The association said it would only reconsider suspending the planned strike after the full implementation of its minimum demands.
Resident doctors had suspended a previous indefinite strike on 29 November after 29 days, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the government.
Under that agreement, the government committed to meeting the doctors’ demands within four weeks.
Those demands include the reinstatement of five resident doctors at the Federal Teaching Hospital in Lokoja; payment of promotion and salary arrears; and the full implementation of the professional allowance table, with arrears reflected in the 2026 budget.
Other issues raised include clarification of entry-level and grade-skipping matters, the reintroduction of specialist allowances, the settlement of house officers’ salary delays, and the issuance of a pay advisory.
NARD is also seeking reforms relating to postgraduate training certification, the regulation of locum work and duty hours, and the resumption and timely conclusion of collective bargaining negotiations.
The association said the one-week notice period before the planned strike was intended to allow for congress meetings, media engagement and statutory notifications to security agencies and hospital managements.
It remains unclear how the union will respond to the court order as the dispute moves into a legal phase.
READ ALSO: Public Warned Against Fake Social Media Accounts Linked to Army Chief