Hundreds of healthcare workers gathered at Unity Fountain in Abuja to protest a proposed health sector reform bill, warning that it could erode professional autonomy and create structural imbalance across the sector.
The bill, currently before the National Assembly, seeks to place all medical professions under the control of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.
Protesters argued that the proposal would relegate non-physician healthcare professionals to subordinate roles, effectively rendering them “second-class” within the system.
“This is not reform; it is domination,” a protest leader said, reflecting concerns widely shared among participants.
The demonstrators maintained that each profession already operates under its own statutory regulatory council and cautioned that the proposed law could weaken these existing bodies.
They announced plans to march to the National Assembly complex to formally present their grievances and press for a reconsideration of the bill.
The protest follows earlier calls for nationwide mobilisation by the Joint Health Sector Unions and the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations against the Health Sector Executive Bills 2026.
