Striking health workers under the Joint Health Sector Unions have insisted that only the adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure will end their ongoing industrial action, as efforts by the Federal Government to resolve the dispute remain stalled.
The strike, which entered its 82nd day on Wednesday, has paralysed activities in government-owned hospitals across the country, leaving patients stranded and forcing many to seek essential medical services outside public health facilities.
JOHESU, which represents health professionals in pharmacies, laboratories and other support departments, has maintained that the action will continue until the Federal Government implements the report of the Technical Committee on the adjustment of CONHESS, submitted since 2021.
The protracted strike has also triggered a 14-day ultimatum issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress in solidarity with the health workers.
The ultimatum, which expires on Friday, February 6, 2026, warned that other affiliate unions could join the action if the government fails to resolve what labour describes as the “maltreatment” of health workers.
In a joint statement by the Secretary-General of the TUC, Nuhu Toro, and the acting General Secretary of the NLC, Benson Upah, the labour centres accused the Federal Government of deliberately refusing to implement the salary adjustment despite repeated engagements.
They rejected what they described as “the persistent and deliberate provocative refusal of the Federal Government to implement the report of the Technical Committee on the adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure.”
According to the unions, the continued delay “is no longer an administrative lapse but a conscious act of injustice, bad faith and institutional disrespect to health workers and organised labour.”
“It is, therefore, unacceptable and a blatant provocation that while the government had no difficulty implementing the adjustment of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure with effect from January 2, 2014, the same government has wilfully refused to implement the same for CONHESS,” the statement read.
Speaking with our correspondent in Abuja on the state of negotiations, the National President of JOHESU, Kabiru Minjibir, said discussions with the government remain deadlocked.
“Negotiations are still deadlocked, and the strike continues. NLC and TUC’s 14-day ultimatum to the government to resolve the issue or have other affiliate unions join in solidarity expires on Friday,” Minjibir said.
He stressed that the union’s demands remain singular and clear.
“We are on strike because of one single demand, which is CONHESS adjustment, as done for the sister scale, CONMESS, in 2014. So, if the government does the needful, we will surely suspend the strike,” he added.
Asked whether the Federal Government had reached out to the union ahead of the ultimatum deadline, Minjibir said, “We have yet to receive any invitation from the government.”
Efforts to get an official response from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare were unsuccessful.
When contacted, the Director of Press at the ministry, Alaba Balogun, said he would revert to our correspondent but had yet to do so as of press time.
The strike is coming at a critical time for the country’s public health system, as cases of Lassa fever continue to rise.
Data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control show that more than 90 cases and 17 deaths were recorded nationwide in the first three weeks of 2026 alone, raising concerns about the impact of the prolonged shutdown of key services in public hospitals.
