Salary deduction: Lagos NMA warns of indefinite strike
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By Chioma Obinna
LAGOS — THE Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, in Lagos State, yesterday, warned that doctors in the state’s employ may embark on an indefinite strike over what it described as “wicked, insensitive, and illegal” deductions from their July 2025 salaries by the State Treasury Office, STO.
The association accused the Lagos State Ministry of Finance, through the STO, of imposing a “crisis-prone and obnoxious” revised medical salary scale that slashed doctors’ pay without consultation, despite earlier negotiations to prevent industrial action.
The Association, in a statement by its Chairman, Dr. Saheed Babajide, said the deductions have yet to be reversed, even after a three-day warning strike, and accused top health officials of failing to act to avert a collapse of healthcare delivery.
The statement titled ‘RE: Wickedness of the Lagos State Ministry of Finance, STO, Against the Lagos State Government Employed Doctors’, reads: “If the Medical Guild and NMA Lagos State are allowed to embark on an indefinite strike, they should be held responsible for failing to ensure the return of the illegal deductions from the July 2025 salaries of members.
“Enough of the inaction of members of the medical profession leading the Lagos State health sector.
“We are resolute on ensuring the return of illegally deducted money.”
The association urged all state-employed doctors to scrutinise their July payslips to confirm the deductions and compare them with the revised salary scale issued by the STO.
The NMA boss also tasked the Commissioner for Health and Permanent Secretaries in the state’s health sector to “defend the integrity, dignity, security, and welfare of medical and dental practitioners” employed by the Lagos State government.
“The state government must act now. This is about the welfare of those keeping the healthcare system alive. Any further delay will be disastrous for patients and Lagos as a whole.”
He also condemned what he described as “inaction” of medical professionals in leadership positions in the state’s health sector, accusing them of standing by while doctors’ welfare is eroded.
The NMA also warned that the policy could worsen the ongoing “Japa’ syndrome and the mass migration of Nigerian doctors abroad by further undermining morale and worsening working conditions.
It reiterated that unless the state government urgently reverses the deductions, Lagos could face a protracted strike that would cripple public hospitals and deepen the state’s healthcare crisis.
According to the NMA, the current standoff stems from unilateral salary changes allegedly introduced by the STO without due process or adequate engagement with the Medical Guild, which represents doctors in the state service.
The Guild had suspended its warning strike in the hope of a resolution, but the NMA said no progress had been made.
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