Tensions have escalated between the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and the management of the National Hospital, Abuja, following what the NMA has described as the “unjust and unlawful” dismissal of three medical consultants.
The association accused the hospital of casualising its members, administrative high-handedness, and selective victimisation, and issued a 14-day ultimatum last Friday demanding the reinstatement of the affected doctors. Failure to do so, the NMA warned, will result in an indefinite strike by consultants and resident doctors at the hospital from June 30, with a possible extension to all government health facilities in the FCT one week later.
In response, the hospital management has denied any dismissal of staff. Speaking on Saturday, the hospital’s Head of Information and Protocol, Maijamaa Adamu, stated that no consultant or doctor formally employed by the National Hospital had been sacked.
According to Adamu, the consultants in question had completed their residency training and were retained under a locum arrangement , a temporary engagement renewable every six months, pending availability of formal employment slots. He explained that locum contracts do not constitute permanent employment, and the hospital lacks the mandate to hire staff independently.
“Our joy currently is the federal government’s approval to recruit more doctors and nurses. This is being conducted in line with due process and monitored by a multi-agency panel,” Adamu noted.
But the NMA has strongly rejected that stance, insisting the affected doctors were not just temporary staff but had served as consultants for between three to five years. Dr Abdullahi Nasiru, Vice Chairman of the NMA in the FCT, said the doctors were promised regularisation and that their long-term service, often under challenging conditions, deserved formal absorption.
“These doctors were addressed as consultants in their appointment letters. They accepted lower salary grades during the pandemic out of commitment to the country, yet they are now being sidelined despite their names being captured in the 2025 federal budget,” Nasiru told PUNCH Healthwise.
He alleged that some of the disengaged consultants were victims of an unverified petition and that no formal inquiry or evidence had been presented before their contracts were terminated.
“Rather than regularise them, the hospital brought in new consultants some of whom were trained by the affected doctors and gave them full-time positions. This is clear favouritism and an abuse of process,” Nasiru said.
The NMA also claimed the hospital flouted civil service and internal regulations that permit locum arrangements for only three months unless formally extended through proper interviews and procedures.
Dr Nasiru further stressed that the consultants had been working since the COVID-19 era under expectations of full employment and that several meetings and interventions involving senior health professionals and the NMA national leadership had failed to resolve the matter.
“This is the first time we are seeing this level of impunity in the hospital’s history. We have made efforts to resolve this amicably, but management remains adamant,” he said.
The association is now calling on the Federal Government to step in and prevent a shutdown of critical health services in the nation’s capital.
“This is not just about three doctors. It’s about defending justice, merit, and the dignity of the profession. We’re fighting systemic injustice, and unless it is addressed, we will not back down,” Nasiru concluded.
