By Ayo Yusuf
President Bola Tinubu has invoked the Principle of the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy to approve the waiver of the “No Work, No Pay” order that was instituted against striking members of the National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, on August 1, following their industrial action, which began on July 26.
The approval of waiver for the resident doctors was made public via a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, in Abuja on Friday.
The statement said: “After several constructive engagements between the federal government and NARD, the resident doctors called off their strike on August 12.
“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, 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 has directed the grant of 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 the National Association of Resident Doctors and all other Health Sector Unions.”
It would be recalled that shortly after the doctors strike commenced in July, the federal government ordered the management of federal tertiary hospitals to commence the enforcement of the “no work, no pay” policy against the striking medical workers.
The directive, contained in a letter signed by the Director of Hospital Services, Andrew Noah, entails withholding regular salaries from doctors who were participating in the strike.
Mr. Noah had also stated the government’s commitment to uphold the principles of the “no work, no pay” policy, as previously outlined in circular Ref. No.58598/8.1/II/182 dated June 22, 2016, by the Federal Ministry of Health.
He directed hospitals to keep a comprehensive attendance register that includes the names of resident doctors who are willing to work despite the strike.
“I am further directed to request you to maintain an attendance register for all residents willing to work and furnish the ministry of such names on a monthly basis.”
