President Bola Tinubu has approved the waiver of the “No Work, No Pay” order that was previously instituted against members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) by the Federal Government.
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The “No Work, No Pay” policy was invoked on August 1, 2023, following a strike by the doctors that began on July 26, 2023, to protest the government’s failure to address their demands.
The strike was suspended on August 12, 2023, after intervention by prominent Nigerians, including the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas. However, the federal government had directed the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to withhold all salaries that accrued during the 17-day strike.
With this waiver approved by President Bola Tinubu, the doctors will now be able to receive the salaries that were previously withheld during their strike. This is a positive development for the National Association of Resident Doctors, as they will now be compensated for the period when they were on strike.
The statement read: “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 Bola Tinubu has directed the grant of an exceptional last waiver of the ‘No Work, No Pay’ Order on Resident Doctors.
“(This) will allow for the members of the NARD to receive the salaries which were previously withheld during the 17-day strike action.”
“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).
“The President said that the DoU must establish that this exceptional waiver granted by the President would be the last to be granted to the NARD and all other Health Sector Unions.”
The president had also approved the waiver of the “no work, no pay” order on the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and approved the payment of four out of their eight months withheld salaries.
