The Federal Ministry of Health has written to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), requesting a reversal of the ‘erroneous’ ban on the January 2026 salaries of nurses employed by the Federal Government.
The PUNCH learnt that the OAGF had placed a lien on the salaries of nurses, believing they participated in a strike alongside members of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU).
In a memo by the Director in the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Dafeta Tetshoma, the ministry noted that nurses did not embark on any strike and, therefore, should not have had their salaries withheld.
The memo read: ‘I am directed to refer to the above subject and inform that following the industrial action embarked upon by the Joint Health Sector Unions and Assembly of Health Care Professionals which commenced on 14 November 2025, the ministry with a letter dated 9th January 2026 requested the stoppage of salaries of members of JOHESU as a consequence of enforcing the Federal Government’s policy of “No Work No Pay”, with effect from January 2026.
The ministry wishes to respectfully draw your attention to the fact that the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives have now brought to the attention of the ministry that nurses under the Federal Tertiary Health Institutions were not paid their January 2026 salaries as they were inadvertently affected by the Federal Government’s directive on ‘No Work, No Pay’.
‘I am to inform you that nurses in FTHIs did not participate in the JOHESU strike as NANNM formally withdrew its membership of JOHESU with effect from 2023.
‘I am to further inform you that the non-payment of January 2026 salaries to nurses has resulted in undue economic hardship to them and their families despite the continued discharge of their professional duties.
‘In view of the foregoing, the ministry requests that the Accountant General of the Federation kindly issue the necessary directive to the IPPIS office for the immediate payment of the January 2026 salaries of nurses in federal tertiary health institutions to forestall industrial disharmony’.
The National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) formally withdrew from JOHESU in May 2023, stating that their initial objectives for joining the union had been achieved. Since then, NANNM has largely not participated in subsequent JOHESU strikes, allowing the association to pursue independent negotiations and actions.
