By Ibrahim Garba
The Minister of Works, Engr. Dave Umahi, on Thursday, locked out staff of his ministry over their late resumption to office duties.
A staff who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity says the workers decided to stage protest following the Minister’s decision to lock them outside.
The protesting staff, who were chanting “Umahi Must Go”, lamented that they reside far away and there was no way they can make it early to the office.
One of the senior staff members who was part of the protesting staff complained that most workers arriving late is attributed to high cost of rent in the urban centre in which only few can afford cost of renting an apartment, despite been members of staff deserving of favours by the ministry.
He explained that some of them reside as far as Gwagwalada, Keffi, Abaji, Kuje, Kwali, and Kaduna Road satellite towns and have to wait to join other colleagues that own vehicles to be chauffeured to the office on free ride.
He went further saying “some of them are on monthly salary of one hundred thousand naira salary, some are on N80,000 salary and they are married. So by the time you subtract both transport and everything, you have nothing left. So, they have to rely on other willing colleagues to make it on time to office,” he said.
Moments later, the minister became alarmed by the chanting of the staff members and later ordered them in, but the protesting workers refused, insisting that the minister must come out and address them on why they were denied entrance.
According to them, their desire was for the minister to take measures about their late coming, adding that he did not warn or issue any circular to inform them that he was going to lock them out.
