Protesting workers barricade Civil Service Commission for hours

Scores of protesting Civil Servants on Wednesday besieged the entrance gate of the Federal Civil Service Commission in Abuja, demanding the reversal of an order from the Chairman of the Commission stopping their salaries on grounds that their employment was irregular and unauthorised.

The Civil servants drawn mainly from the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Petroleum Resources were seen chatting protest songs and demanding the response of the Commission’s Chairman around 12 noon when our correspondent visited the protest scene.

Details of the grouse of the protesters contained in the protest letter obtained by BusinessDay revealed that the angry workers who said they were duly employed by the Commission 2 years ago were miffed by the purported letter issued by the Chairman of FCSC to the Accountant General of the Federation to stop payment of their salaries.

According to the protesters, “Joan Ayo, Chairman of the Commission further directed the AGF to delete the names of all innocent officers given employment letters from 2014 till date”

“The Chairman termed our employment from 2014 till date as irregular/unauthorised,” they lamented.

They argued that they duly passed through the integrity test of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) process and were duly captured after thorough verification by the Commission.

The Protesting workers wondered why the Commission’s Chairman has continuously ignored the invitation of the National Association of Senior Civil Servants for resolution of the matter.

They therefore urged President Muhammadu Buhari and all concerned authorities to wade into the matter and resolve their employment status problem as the current economic situation doesn’t call for harsh decisions that will further throw more people into the already over bloated unemployment market.