President Bola Tinubu has invoked the Principle of the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy to grant a waiver on the “No Work, No Pay” Order imposed on striking National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) members.

The order was initiated on August 1, 2023, in response to the NARD’s industrial action, which commenced on July 26, 2023.

Following constructive engagements between the Federal Government and NARD, the resident doctors officially called off their strike on August 12, 2023.

During the strike, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation was directed to withhold the salaries accrued by striking NARD members for the 17 days of their industrial action.

Ajuri Ngelale, the president’s spokesman, in a statement, said:

”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, which 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 ppresident will be the last one to be granted to the National Association of Resident Doctors and all other Health Sector Unions.”