Nigeria’s ministry of finance denies allegation of strike by staff

Nigeria’s federal ministry of finance has denied allegations of strike action by staff, saying that a combined staff union of the ministry held its normal general congress Wednesday, May 23, 2018, which has been interpreted as a strike action.

“Many journalists have called the press unit with many spurious allegations against the HMF and the PSF. They said they got their information from ‘reliable’ sources in the staff union,” a statement from the ministry read, stating that “what took place today (Wednesday, May 23, 2018) in the ministry was a normal staff congress, where staff gathered to discuss sundry issues, not a riot as alleged by some journalists.”

The statement signed by Patricia Deworitshe, deputy director(Press) stated that many key directors in the ministry including director, human resources (DHR) and director, general services (DGS), attended the staff congress and clarified issues raised by the staff.

“The staff of the ministry were not on strike, the gate of the Ministry and offices in the Ministry were not locked as alleged by some of the journalists. The monthly FAAC Meeting that held today confirms that the Ministry was not shut down.

“The issues raised and discussed in the meeting are regular internal issues of the ministry and should be allowed to remain that way,” the statement read, adding that the Congress never accused the minister nor the permanent secretary of the issues alleged by the journalists.