MINISTRY WORKERS ACCUSE MAKU OF EMBEZZLING SURE-P FUNDS, DISRUPT HANDOVER

Labaran Maku

Workers under the aegis of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Information chapter have on Monday disrupted the handing over ceremony of erstwhile Minister of Information Labaran Maku.

The visibly angry Ministry Staffs disrupted the ceremony in protested of non-payment of their allowances.

The protesters also accused the minister and other top officials of mismanaging SURE-P funds meant for the ministry.

They went ahead to block the gates to the Radio House for hours and prevented people from entering or coming out of the building.

They kept on chanting solidarity songs and carried placards with inscriptions such as: “Is SURE-P money released for the pockets of a set of people?”, “Is there no budget released for the Ministry for Information for 2014?”

Other placards read, “Enough is Enough: Management sensitivity to staff welfare is zero,” “Perm Sec. Must Go,” “Non Payment of Repatriation allowance.”

Speaking to journalists, the Chairman of the association, Adam Ogwola, said the ministry’s management has been insensitive to staff welfare.

Mr. Ogwola pointed out that staff of the ministry has not been paid their repatriation allowance, noting that with Mr. Maku’s resignation, it may not be possible to recover the funds.

The association also accused Mr. Maku of sharing a part of the SURE-P funds with top management of the ministry without recourse to staff.

Continuing, Mr. Ogwola said staff welfare had been at the lowest ebb since Mr. Maku became minister, adding that under him, the ministry could not pay statutory allowances to staff.

 He questioned the budget released for the ministry under the 2014 budget and called for the immediate removal of the Permanent Secretary.