The Federal Government has announced a ban for medical doctors working in public hospitals to engage on private practice.

Literally, it means medical doctors working in public hospitals will no longer be allowed to go into private practice.

The decision was taken at the Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Nigerian Government also said that henceforth the doctrine of no work no pay which was contained in the nation’s law would be invoked for workers embarking on strike.

In a joint media briefing after the FEC, the Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole and Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige noted that most of the unions that recently embarked on strike contravened the labour laws especially the Trade Dispute Act.

The health minister said a committee had been set up to determine what exactly an individual should be paid to ensure salaries are paid appropriately across board in the entire country.

Adewole announced that the federal government would embark on a nationwide vaccination against yellow fever following the reported outbreak of the disease in some part of the country.

Ngige on his part, said that the enforcement of `no work, no pay” doctrine, was part of measures to restore harmony into the public service in the country.

He stated that the council’s decision to strictly observe and implement the doctrine followed the council’s acceptance of the recommendation of the report of the Technical Committee on Industrial Relation matters in the federal public service.

The committee which was chaired and co-chaired by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Head of Service, was inaugurated on April 26, 2016.

“The report emphasises the need for government to implement the law on “No Work No Pay”.
“The “No work No Pay” is not a rule neither is it a policy. It is a law captured in the Trade Dispute Act of the Federation, section 43, which says worker has the right to disengage their service from an employer if there is a breakdown in their discussion/negotiation.
“But, for the periods that the worker does so, the employer should not pay and those periods are to be counted as non-pensionable times in his period of work.
“So, Council today reemphasised that law is still and it should be brought to the knowledge of workers in Nigeria especially those in the public sector,” he said.