Workers in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Monday, prevented the minister, Kemi Adeosun, from accessing her office at the ministry’s headquarters as they demanded “unpaid N1.2 billion special overtime allowances.
The protesting workers were seen carrying placards, reading : “Adeosun: Pay us our N1.2 billion special overtime allowance”, “PMB sack Mrs. Adeosun now. She is insensitive to workers’ welfare,” “Adeosun: you are destroying finance ministry”, You must go”, “You are incompetent “, “You are killing PMB’s change agenda.”
However, the Director of communications in the ministry, Salisu Dambatta, said the protest was not justified, he said 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.
Speaking further, Dambatta stated that the sum of N1.2 billion computed by the staff union for payment could not have been budgeted for 2016 in the first place as the SOT allowance was not part of the remuneration in the Federal Public Service.
