Health workers mobilise nationwide over 13-year salary adjustment delay
- JOHESU says it is preparing members for possible industrial action over the unpaid CONHESS adjustment.
- The union says the salary review has stalled for about 13 years despite a 2023 promise by President Tinubu.
- Members have been told to stay peaceful while waiting for direction from the NLC and TUC.
Health workers across the country have been placed on alert for a possible strike over the Federal Government's failure to implement an adjustment to their salary structure, the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).
The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) said the demand has gone unresolved for about 13 years, and that members are no longer willing to wait.
The decision came from an emergency expanded National Executive Council meeting held online on Thursday, 29 October 2026, according to a statement jointly signed by JOHESU National Chairman Kabiru Minjibir and National Secretary Martin Egbanubi.
What the union is asking for
JOHESU said the adjustment was promised by President Bola Tinubu on 5 June 2023, when he asked the union to call off its strike shortly after taking office.
On the same day, the union said, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare sent the 2021 High Level Body Technical Committee report on the adjustment to the Budget Office of the Federation, which serves as the secretariat of the Presidential Committee on Salaries.
The union blames the delay on the committee's failure to meet, and warned that it will resist any attempt to use that as an excuse for further postponement.
It also pointed to the Trade Unions Act, Cap T14, Laws of the Federation 2004, which allows unions to negotiate benefit packages and collective bargaining agreements for their members.
JOHESU described the CONHESS adjustment as the oldest outstanding demand in the history of organised labour in Nigeria, and thanked the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) for pushing the matter.
What happens next
The union has directed mobilisation in health institutions nationwide for possible industrial action, but asked members to remain peaceful while waiting for further directives from the NLC and TUC, which have issued the government an ultimatum and timeline.
JOHESU's affiliates include the Medical and Health Workers' Union of Nigeria, the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, the Senior Staff Association of Universities Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions, and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, including its technical arm, the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations.
For ordinary Nigerians, a health sector shutdown could mean longer queues, cancelled appointments and disrupted care in public hospitals, which many families rely on.
