After two days of protest by workers of the ministry of finance which led to a total shut down of business activities at the headquarters of the ministry in Abuja, Nigeria, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi adeosun on Wednesday finally showed up at the ministry.
The finance minister who had for the past two days avoided
the protesting workers by staying away from the office arrived at the ministry
at about 8am with her convoy amidst tight security.
An indication that the minister would come to the office was
given during the early hours of the day as over 70 security personnel from the
Nigerian Police Force were stationed at strategic locations both within and
outside the premises of the ministry.
Their presence according to one of them who spoke in
confidence was to prevent a breakdown of the law and order and to also
forestall any form of attack on the minister,
The workers had for the past two days protested the non-payment
of their Special Overtime Allowance which according to them is about N1.2bn.
The ministry had insisted that the amount is illegal as such
allowance is not captured in the financial regulation or the 2016 budget.
As was the case in the last two days, they also blocked all
entrances leading to the ministry to prevent the conduct of business
activities.
As soon as the protesting workers saw the convoy of the
minister approaching the ministry, they rushed to the gate to prevent her from
gaining access to the ministry.
They started shouting “Adeosun must go, she must go,” “We
want change, give us change,” among others.
Yielding to the request of the visibly angry workers, after
preventing the Minister from entering the office, Adeosun alighted from her
vehicle and was asked by the workers to walk into the ministry on foot which
she did.
She is currently having a meeting with union leaders
concerning the issue of their welfare package.
No comments:
Post a Comment