Finance ministry workers protest over N1.2b special overtime

Workers of the Federal Ministry of Finance yesterday staged a peaceful protest at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, demanding the removal of the Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun.

The workers accused the minister of not paying their allowances to the tune of N1.2 billion even when she has collected N30 million as annual house rent. The workers also displayed placards with various inscriptions, saying that Mrs. Adeosun has become an agent of negative change.

The various placards read: “Kemi Adeosun must go, You are destroying federal ministry of finance, inflation is 15 percent courtesy of Adeosun, PMB agent of positive change, Adeosun agent of negative change, Adeosun score card is zero.”

Meanwhile, a statement from the Director of Information in the Ministry, Salisu Na’Inna Dambatta, said: ‘’The joint protest by some staff of the Federal Ministry of Finance, office of the accountant-general of the federation and the budget office of the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, to back a demand for the payment of an unofficial allowance totaling N1.2 billion has been brought to the attention of the management of the Federal Ministry of Finance.

The payment of what the protesting staff called a Special Overtime (SOT), 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 sum of N1.2 billion computed by the staff union for payment could not have been budgeted for in 2016 in the first place, not only because of the paucity of funds, but also the fact that the SOT allowance was not part of the remuneration in the Federal Public Service; and the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Budget Office of the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, do not individually or collectively, owe any of their personnel their salaries.’’

The statement further said that in view of the foregone, the management of the Federal Ministry of Finance wishes to categorically state that the protests have no justifiable grounds; there was no basis for the workers’ protest.