JUST-IN: FCT Resident Doctors Declare Indefinite Strike

Association of Resident Doctors under the Federal Capital Territory Administration (ARD-FCTA) has commenced an indefinite strike following the expiration of their seven-day warning strike.

The decision was contained in a communiqué issued on Monday morning and signed by the ARD-FCTA President, Dr. George Ebong, and General Secretary, Dr. Agbor Affiong.

The association had earlier embarked on a warning strike on September 8, 2025, to press home its demands bordering on unpaid salary arrears, poor welfare, and deteriorating conditions in FCT hospitals.

According to the communiqué, the grievances include unpaid salary arrears of between one and six months for doctors employed since 2023, non-payment of the 2025 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF), delayed promotions, and continued salary deductions.

The doctors also faulted the failure to recruit new medical officers despite a severe manpower shortage, warning that this has resulted in stress-related deaths among health workers and poses “grave, potentially catastrophic risks to both patients and doctors.”

They further highlighted the non-payment of arrears from the 25–35 per cent upward review of CONMESS, already implemented for federal health workers, as part of their grievances.

Their demands included immediate payment of all arrears, urgent recruitment of doctors before the end of 2025, full disbursement of the MRTF, clear timelines for skipping and conversion processes, as well as urgent renovation of FCTA hospitals.

The association also called for the declaration of a state of emergency in FCT hospitals, insisting that the nation’s capital should be a benchmark for healthcare delivery in Nigeria but has instead become “a shadow of what it ought to represent.”