Industrial Court Halts Resident Doctors’ Planned Nationwide Strike

The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), Abuja, has restrained the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) from embarking on its planned nationwide strike scheduled to begin on January 12, 2026.

Justice Emmanuel Subilim issued the restraining order on Friday while ruling on a motion ex parte filed by the Federal Government through the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

The motion was moved by the Director of Civil Litigation at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs. 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 decision followed the association’s recent announcement of plans to resume what it described as a Total, Indefinite and Complete Strike (TICS 2.0), citing the Federal Government’s alleged failure to implement agreements reached with resident doctors.

NARD had, on January 3, declared that the strike would commence on January 12, following resolutions reached at an Emergency National Executive Council (E-NEC) meeting held on January 2.

In a statement signed by its president, the association said the action became unavoidable due to what it described as the Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Government’s repeated failure to meet agreed timelines for implementing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) reached with resident doctors.

According to the statement, the NEC resolved to resume TICS 2.0 under the slogan “No Implementation, No Going Back,” while also directing centre presidents across the association’s 91 centres to convene congress meetings and brief the media thereafter.

With the court order, the planned strike has been temporarily halted pending further proceedings in the substantive suit.