We Won’t Resume Until Govt Attends To Our Welfare, LASUTH-ARD Insists

As the strike declared by medical doctors under the auspices of the Association of Resident Doctors, LASUTH-ARD, entered its eleventh day, the doctors have remained adamant, insisting that they remain at a deadlock with the Lagos State Government and will not return to work until their welfare demands are met.

The medical union decided to go on strike after an emergency congress held on 9 September 2026. The congress was convened to review members’ welfare concerns and assess the progress made by the Lagos State Government in addressing the issues raised.

As the strike entered day six, many patients who turned up for medical services at LASUTH were turned away, leaving many stranded.

One of the striking doctors who spoke with our correspondent and requested not to be named, said, “We are still at a deadlock. We won’t resume until the government attends to our welfare.”

President, LASUTH-ARD, Dr. Akerele Alaba Gabriel, had said the association had to take the necessary steps because on August 27, they had given the government seven days to implement the Specialist Allowance for Grade Level 14 doctors and pay outstanding salary and promotion arrears owed to affected members and warned that failure to meet their demands within the given time could trigger further action and possibly lead to industrial disharmony at the hospital.

Before this indefinite strike, the group had threatened to go on a three-day total warning strike from Monday night, 15 June, to Friday, 19 June, over this unpaid allowance and slow implementation of welfare measures, which it agreed with the Lagos State government.

However, LASUTH-ARD, during its congress, expressed great concern about the persistent delay and the government’s failure to fulfil its promise to pay specialist allowances to Grade Level 14 resident doctors (Senior Registrars I) at LASUTH. This was despite an earlier agreement to follow the federal government’s implementation of the allowance at federal institutions.

Furthermore, the Congress expressed dismay at the continued delay in paying salary shortfalls and arrears of advancement owed to members since last year.

Although the Lagos State government had acknowledged the non‑payment, attributing it to procedural and systemic issues, the doctors lamented that no concrete action had been taken to resolve the matter.

In addition, the Congress raised deep concerns over irregularities and discrepancies in the payment of the revised provisional allowance to members. They also expressed dissatisfaction with the delay in implementing Professional Allowances (PAT), which were supposed to take effect from 1 July 2024.

After extensive deliberations, the congress resolved that the specialist allowance for resident doctors on Grade Level 14 must be implemented immediately, without further delay. It also demanded prompt payment of salary shortfalls and arrears of advances owed to members, settlement of 25 months’ arrears of the revised professional allowance table recently implemented, and the release of a transparent salary breakdown containing all components currently used by the Lagos State government in paying doctors.

Based on this, the congress declared a total and indefinite strike beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday, 11 September, citing the government’s failure to meet their welfare needs and demands. The doctors emphasised that the strike will continue until all their demands are fully addressed.