Court halts resident doctors’ planned nationwide strike
The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Abuja has restrained the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and its members from embarking on a nationwide strike scheduled to begin on January 12, 2026.
Justice Emmanuel Subilim issued the restraining order on Friday after granting an ex parte application filed by the federal government through the Attorney General of the Federation. The motion was argued by the Director of Civil Litigation at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Maimuna Lami Shiru, who led a team of government lawyers before the court.
Listed as respondents in the suit are NARD, its National President, Dr Mohammad Suleman, and the association’s Secretary-General, Dr Shuaibu Ibrahim.
The court’s intervention followed NARD’s recent announcement that it would resume a total, indefinite and complete strike, tagged TICS 2.0, from January 12. The association had blamed the decision on what it described as the federal government’s failure to honour agreements reached with resident doctors.
NARD explained that the resolution to strike was taken at an emergency meeting of its National Executive Council held on January 2. In a statement, the association’s leadership said repeated deadlines for implementing the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the government had elapsed without progress, making industrial action unavoidable.
The association had directed its members across the country to mobilise for the strike and mandated centre presidents in its 91 centres to hold congress meetings and brief the media on the decision.
With the court order now in place, NARD and its members are barred from proceeding with the planned strike pending further hearing of the substantive suit.
