Kemi Adeosun
Kemi Adeosun

The protest embarked upon by employees of the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters, Abuja and the Budget Office of the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning has continued despite entreaties from high government quarters. The workers created a snarl yesterday, when they literally shut down the entire ministry complex and other adjoining offices. The protesters are demanding the immediate removal of their boss, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, whom they claim is insensitive to their plight.

The irate workers claim that the affairs of the Finance Ministry and the nation’s economy in general have nose-dived since Adeosun took office. They are also bothered about the non– payment of their entitlements and other fringe benefits as well as unpaid N1.2bn Special Overtime (SOT) allowance. Some of the placards displayed by the protesters bore such inscriptions as: “Things have not been going well in the ministry,” “We demand to know what is going on in the ministry,” “We have not been paid our entitlements,” “Adeosun Must Go” and “A lot of people in this ministry are not happy because of poor staff welfare.”

Quite unlike what happened yesterday when members of staff of the ministry worked for a few hours, the situation on Tuesday morning was that of total compliance with the “no work order.” The protesting workers said that the agitation will continue until all their demands are met.

However, a statement from the Finance Ministry has faulted the claims by the protesting workers, describing the whole exercise as illegal and unjustified. The Ministry’s spokesperson, Salisu Na’inna Dambatta said: “The payment of what the protesting staff called Special Overtime was stopped by the last administration in 2014 on the ground that it was not listed in any extant government circular, financial regulations or the Public Service Rules. The Federal Ministry of Finance, the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Budget Office do not owe salaries, individually or collectively to any of their personnel.”