The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the Assembly of Healthcare Professionals have issued a 15-day strike ultimatum to the Federal Government over unresolved welfare and salary issues.

The unions said the nationwide strike would begin at midnight on Friday, November 14, 2025, if the government fails to meet their demands.

If implemented, the industrial action is expected to paralyse medical services and disrupt academic activities across the country, as JOHESU represents several critical unions, including the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria, Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions, and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions.

At the centre of JOHESU’s demands is the adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS), which the unions say has remained unimplemented for more than a decade despite repeated assurances.

In a letter dated October 30, 2025, and addressed to the Minister of Labour and Employment, JOHESU accused the Federal Government of reneging on the Memorandum of Understanding signed on October 29, 2024, which was aimed at fast-tracking the long-delayed salary adjustment.

The letter, jointly signed by JOHESU Chairman, Kabiru Minjibir, and National Secretary, Martin Egbanubi, lamented that the Federal Government has failed to honour its promises despite the personal intervention of President Bola Tinubu in 2023.

According to the unions, the government has repeatedly blamed delays on the inactivity of the Presidential Committee on Salaries, which has not convened since August 2023.

“This flagship demand has carried the longest-ever timeline of over 12 years in labour history, despite the fact that the Federal Government’s High-Level Body had submitted an implementation template to the Presidential Committee on Salaries since 2022,” the letter stated.

JOHESU described the government’s handling of the matter as “insensitive and discriminatory,” citing an incident on October 29, 2025, when its representatives were denied the opportunity to speak at a tripartite meeting at the Ministry of Finance, despite being invited alongside other professional bodies such as the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

The unions said their patience and empathy for healthcare consumers, who often suffer during industrial actions, have not been reciprocated by the government.

“This leaves us with no choice but to take our destiny into our hands,” JOHESU declared. “We hereby issue a 15-day ultimatum effective from Friday, 31st October, 2025. If the Federal Government fails to approve and circulate the adjustment of CONHESS by the expiration of this ultimatum, JOHESU members will withdraw their services across all health facilities nationwide from midnight of Friday, 14th November, 2025.”

The impending strike, if not averted, could severely affect healthcare delivery in public hospitals across Nigeria, where JOHESU members constitute over 80 per cent of the workforce.