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| Nigerian Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun |
The Workers of the Ministry of
Finance on Monday embarked on a protest demanding the immediate removal of the
Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun.
Their grievance is over the
non-payment of what they termed their allowances, which they say amounts to
N1.2 billion. They equally accused Adeosun of collecting her own allowances
without any consideration for theirs. One of such allowances, they alleged, was
the N30 million for house rent annually. They also said she was high handed.
Sources within the ministry however
said the protest was unwarranted. The Permanent Secretary, Mahmud Isa-Dutse,
said the N1.2 billion was an illegal payment that the workers have been
receiving at the beginning of the year before now. The money is said not to be
captured in the Ministry’s 2016 Budget, hence Adeosun’s position not to pay the
staff the sum.
A source at the ministry said
the only salary yet to be paid was that of June, which is not yet due for
payment. He described the demand for the N1.2 billion as “illegal” as it was
not captured in the 2016 Budget.