Patients in general hospitals across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have continued to bear the brunt of resident doctors’ ongoing seven-day warning strike under the Federal Capital Territory Administration (ARD-FCTA).
The facility looked deserted when our correspondent visited Tuesday’s usually bustling Nyanya General Hospital. Only two patients were seen in the female ward, which is typically overcrowded. Two patients remained admitted at the emergency unit, attended to by nurses without doctors.
Findings by our correspondent revealed that many patients had been discharged prematurely, while others were turned away and advised to return after the strike.
A nurse at the hospital who spoke anonymously told our correspondent, “Since yesterday, no new patients have been admitted. Those who come are asked to return next week when the strike may have been called off.”
One of the stranded patients, Ms. Rose Adole, narrated her ordeal. She said she had an appointment with a consultant at Asokoro District Hospital, but was turned back because resident doctors were on strike.
“I wasn’t aware of the strike. When I got to Asokoro, I was told to return next week. I came down to Nyanya, thinking I could still be attended to, but it was the same story. I don’t have money for private hospitals, so I will wait until they resume,” she lamented.
At Asokoro District Hospital, the situation was not different. The usually crowded wards and emergency units were nearly empty, with only a handful of patients being attended to.
Around the hospital, nurses offered limited services, while a few consultants struggled to handle emergency cases and pre-scheduled appointments.
A stranded patient at the hospital, James Agabi, said she came from Masaka in Nasarawa State, where she resides, to keep her appointment at the Asokoro General Hospital, where she is registered. However, she was turned back and asked to return next week.
She appealed to the FCT Administration to urgently address the doctors’ demands, noting that ordinary Nigerians suffer the most.
A nurse who spoke anonymously confirmed the development, noting that many patients were discharged due to the absence of doctors. “Only a few consultants are around to see patients with critical needs or prior appointments. But new cases are not being admitted for now,” she explained.
The strike, which entered its third day on Monday, has left patients stranded and hospitals under severe strain. There are fears that the situation could worsen if the industrial action persists.
ARD-FCTA had declared a one-week warning strike over unpaid salary arrears, poor welfare, and worsening conditions in Abuja hospitals.
The decision followed an Emergency General Meeting held virtually on Friday, September 5, 2025, where the doctors decried what they described as “management’s unwillingness to acknowledge the emergency in the FCT health sector.”
The strike began at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, September 8, 2025, and will end at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, September 15, 2025.
According to the communiqué signed by ARD-FCTA President, Dr. George Ebong, and General Secretary, Dr. Agbor Affiong, the doctors listed multiple grievances, including the non-payment of salary arrears ranging from one to six months for doctors employed since 2023, non-payment of the 2025 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF), delayed promotion exercises, and continued deductions from members’ salaries.
They also condemned the failure to recruit new doctors despite severe manpower shortages, warning that the crisis has led to stress-related deaths among health workers and poses “grave, potentially catastrophic risks to both patients and doctors.”
Other issues highlighted include by the doctors include non-payment of arrears from the 25–35 per cent upward review of CONMESS, which the federal government has already implemented for its staff, etc.
The doctors issued a series of demands, including immediate settlement of all arrears, urgent recruitment of new medical officers before the end of 2025, full payment of the MRTF, release of timelines for skipping and conversion processes, and urgent renovation of FCTA hospitals.
They further called for a State of Emergency in FCT hospitals, stressing that the capital city should set the benchmark for healthcare in Nigeria. Instead, it has become “a shadow of what it should represent.”
The communiqué warned that the doctors would reconvene at the end of the warning strike to review progress and decide on “the next possible line of action” if their demands are unmet.
… Minister’s Absence May Prolong Patients’ Agony
Healthcare services at public hospitals across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were thrown into disarray on Monday as the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD-FCT) commenced a seven-day warning strike. No immediate resolution exists as the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, is out of the country.
The strike was triggered by the FCT Administration’s failure to meet a 21-day ultimatum issued by the doctors.
The unresolved issues include the non-payment of salary arrears, accrued Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF), and the failure to implement new hazard allowances and revised CONMESS salary structures.
A cloud of uncertainty hangs over the possibility of an early call-off, as sources confirm that the minister, whose approval is required for any significant financial commitment, is not expected to return until mid-September.
Highly placed sources within the FCT Administration have confirmed that the minister has the sole power to approve the financial commitments needed to resolve the doctors’ grievances and that no other official, including the minister of State, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, can act in his stead.
A senior official at the FCT Health Secretariat, who pleaded anonymity due to a lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, revealed the administrative bottleneck crippling negotiations.
“The situation is truly frustrating. The demands on the table require significant financial expenditure and commitments only the senior minister, Mr. Wike, can authorise.
“There is a clear directive that no one is to take definitive financial or policy decisions without the final approval of the FCT Minister. This has left us in a bind,” he said.
When asked if the Minister of State could intervene, the source said, “The Minister of State does not have the unilateral power to approve these vast expenditures.
“The bureaucracy is structured so that only the substantive minister can give the green light to end this strike. Until he returns, we are essentially helpless.”
This administrative impasse means the seven-day warning strike will almost certainly run its full course, prolonging the suffering of patients who rely on public health facilities.
At hospitals like the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, and the general hospitals in Kubwa, Asokoro, and Maitama, the absence of resident doctors, who form the backbone of clinical care, has severely crippled services. Emergency wards are overwhelmed, and dozens of elective surgeries have been cancelled indefinitely.
For residents like Chinedu Okafor, whose father was scheduled for a critical operation at Kubwa General Hospital, the strike is a devastating development.
“We have been preparing for this surgery for months. Now, we are just told to go home and wait. It is a matter of life and death, and it feels like no one in authority cares,” he lamented.
Attempts to get a comment from the permanent secretary of the FCT Health Service and Environment Secretariat, Dr Baba-Gana Adam, proved abortive. Calls to his line were unanswered, and a WhatsApp message was not responded to.
