Several months after refusing to pay, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, to release the seized salaries of health workers, including doctors.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, confirmed this development when fielding questions from State House correspondents in Abuja on Thursday.

“The president graciously approved that we pay back some funds, some wages, which we did not pay health workers,” explained Mr Ngige. “First, section 43 of the Trade Disputes Act says that when a worker goes on strike, especially those on essential services, the employer can also refuse to pay. That is what they call it the ‘No Work, No Pay Rule’.”

He said the president has since approved the authority letter to release the funds of the resident doctors for September and October 2021.

The minister, who earlier met behind closed doors with Mr Buhari at the Presidential Villa, said the presidential approval for the release of the salaries was on compassionate ground and to encourage the affected workers to perform better in their respective places of work.

According to Mr Ngige, the approval covers members of the Joint Health Services Union (JOHESU) who went on strike in 2018.

The minister added that the health sector workers, including doctors, pharmacists, nurses and members of JOHESU, were trying to make sure that we create an equitable environment for them to function.

As a first step, according to Mr Ngige, the president last week directed the finance minister to release the funds of the resident doctors for September and October 2021, “which was seized in conformity with the law.”

“In the same vein, the approval also covers members of the JOHESU who went on strike in 2018 for three months. After the first month, after March, when they couldn’t come back, we asked that their pay be suspended. This is in tandem with the ILO principles at work,” the labour minister further stressed. “You have a right to strike, but the employer has a right to stop your remuneration and, if possible, use it to keep his enterprise going by taking new hands, where possible, especially in essential services.”

He also mentioned that the money for 2018 April and May, “Mr President has again approved,” that the finance minister should refund or reimburse the health workers on compassionate grounds.

“This is predicated on the grounds that this group of workers has been showing a lot of dedication and concern to the COVID-19 and that their Hazard Allowance for 2021 had remained what it was before,” said Mr Ngige. “So, on compassionate grounds and…we agreed that they should be getting this money to keep their morale high. We’re not yet free of COVID-19 and the new mutants. We need to do everything to keep the health workers here happy.”

He also stated that Mr Buhari had directed “us to conclude the discussions on the other allowances for the health workers so that they can enjoy it anytime from now.’’

The minister announced that the Presidential Committee on Salaries and Wages meeting would be convened on December 17 to ratify health workers’ new pay hazard structure.

(NAN)