The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) has directed its members across health institutions nationwide to begin mobilisation for possible industrial action over the 13-year delay in adjusting the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS), urging the Federal Government to fulfil its commitment to improving their remuneration.
The union said its members should remain on alert and prepare for possible industrial action if the government failed to implement the long-standing demand.
In a statement signed by Kabiru Minjibir, national chairman, and Martin Egbanubi, national secretary, JOHESU said the adjustment had remained unresolved for about 13 years, describing it as one of the longest-standing demands in organised labour.
The resolutions were reached at an emergency expanded National Executive Council meeting held virtually on Thursday, October 29, 2026, with the union’s affiliates and organs at federal and state levels in attendance.
The union warned that it would resist any attempt to frustrate the implementation of the adjustment, insisting that the time for its uninterrupted implementation was now.
It also commended the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) for their efforts to secure the adjustment.
JOHESU recalled that President Bola Tinubu had promised to address the demand on June 5, 2023, when he appealed to the union to suspend its strike shortly after assuming office.
It said the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare forwarded the 2021 High Level Body Technical Committee Report on the adjustment to the Budget Office of the Federation on June 5, 2023.
The Budget Office serves as the secretariat of the Presidential Committee on Salaries, which is responsible for considering the proposed adjustment.
However, the union said the inability of the committee to meet had continued to delay official approval of the adjustment.
JOHESU warned that it would not accept further delays on the grounds that the committee had been unable to convene.
The union also cited the Trade Unions Act, Cap T14, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, which it said empowers trade unions to negotiate benefit packages and collective bargaining agreements on behalf of their members.
It urged members to remain peaceful while awaiting further developments and directives from the NLC and TUC following the ultimatum and timeline issued to the Federal Government on the CONHESS adjustment.
JOHESU comprises 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, including its technical arm, the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations.
