The Federal Ministry of Finance on Wednesday debunked the story that civil servants in the ministry had embarked on industrial action.
The ministry said what had been misconstrued as strike was rather normal general congress of a combined staff union of the ministry.
A statement signed by Patricia Deworitshe, deputy director(Press), which was emailed to The Niche, 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.
“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,” the statement 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 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.”
Below is full text of the statement
NO STRIKE IN FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE
The combined staff union of the Federal Ministry of Finance held its normal general congress on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 at the Ministry’s main Auditorium.
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.
In the light of the above, we want to state as follows: