Workers Lock Out Women Affairs Minister, Demand Her Removal over Alleged Negligence, Poor Working Conditions

Workers at the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs in Abuja, on Wednesday, protested by locking out Minister Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, citing ongoing neglect and unresolved grievances.

The protesters, mainly staff members and union representatives, gathered at the ministry’s entrance, singing solidarity songs and calling for the Minister’s removal.

They explained that their decision to protest was a last resort after multiple failed attempts to meet with the Minister to discuss issues such as inadequate working conditions, lack of staff welfare, and insufficient resources. Despite efforts, the Minister had not engaged with staff since her appointment in October of the previous year.

On the day of the protest, staff waited for hours for a scheduled meeting with the Minister, only for her to arrive and ignore them, failing to acknowledge their presence or apologize for the delay.

Union leader Alake Success criticized the Minister’s apparent indifference, comparing her unfavorably to her predecessor.

Staff members complained about using personal funds for work necessities, lack of basic facilities like cleaners, and poor communication from leadership.

The workers are demanding the Minister’s removal and reassignment elsewhere. As of the report’s publication, the gates remained locked, and the Minister had not responded to the protest or addressed the grievances.

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“The Minister was deployed to the Ministry in October last year, and since then, she has not had any meeting with the workers nor the unions. After several efforts, she fixed a meeting with the unions and staff on Wednesday, and we were glad. Every staff member, including the Permanent Secretary and all the Directors, was seated since morning waiting for the Minister.

“We waited for the Minister for about four hours, because we were told she was returning from a trip. Surprisingly, she snubbed us when she arrived. She never said ‘hello’ to us nor even apologised for keeping us waiting for several hours. Rather, she gave us silent treatment and went to her office. We waited patiently for about an hour for her to come down, but she never did. That made us express our grievances,” a staff member said.

One of the union leaders, Alake Success, told journalists that the Minister is someone who doesn’t care for the staff. “In fact, the immediate-past Minister, Uju Ohanenye, is far better than her. In our Ministry, there are no working tools, statutory welfare, training, and several other issues.

“We don’t see the usefulness of the overhead allocation to the Ministry. The Minister and her over 25 aides use the money. We use our personal funds to work for the Ministry. Cleaners are no longer in the Ministry. We clean the toilets ourselves; we buy stationery ourselves.

“We have met with the Permanent Secretary on this matter, and she confirmed that she has made several efforts but received no positive response from the Minister. We have no option but to register our discontent through peaceful protests.”

They demanded the removal of the Minister and possibly her deployment to another Ministry other than the Women Affairs Ministry.

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Meanwhile, as at press time, the gates of the Ministry were locked, and the Minister had yet to address the aggrieved workers or respond to the allegations.