Tinubu lifts ‘no work, no pay rule’ instituted against Nigerian doctors

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has approved the waiver of the “No Work, No Pay” order instituted against striking members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) on 1 August.

This was made known in a statement issued Friday and signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale.

“Invoking the Principle of the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy, President Bola Tinubu has approved the waiver of the “No Work, No Pay” Order that was instituted against striking members of NARD on 1 August, 2023, following the commencement of their industrial action which began on 26 July, 2023.

“After several constructive engagements between the Federal Government and NARD, the Resident Doctors called off their strike on 12 August. The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation was directed to withhold all salaries accrued by striking NARD members during the 17 days of their strike action.

“In view of the faithful implementation of terms which were agreed upon during the fruitful deliberations between the Resident Doctors and the Federal Government of Nigeria, President Tinubu has directed the grant of an exceptional last waiver of the “No Work, No Pay” Order on Resident Doctors, which will allow for the members of the NARD to receive the salaries which were previously withheld during the 17-day strike action,” Mr Ngelale wrote.

The statement also indicates that the president granted the waiver with a mandatory requirement that the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment must secure a Document of Understanding (DoU) establishing that this exceptional waiver granted by the president will be the last one to be granted to all health sector unions.

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In a separate statement, the president also approved the waiver of the ‘no work, no pay’ rule for members of the university lecturers union, ASUU.

Backstory

Like the education sector, the nation’s health sector has consistently witnessed protests by workers over poor welfare conditions, overstretched workforce, poor working environment, among other issues.

The situation led to industrial actions on the part of the workers, grounding activities across many healthcare institutions nationwide.

To forestall the frequent strikes by the workers’ unions, the government imposed the “no work, no pay rule” citing Section 43(1)(a) of the Trade Disputes Act. The workers however kicked against the government’s decision.