The Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has played down on the grievances of the protesting workers of the ministry, saying that she is not angry over their recent protest as she, like other politicians, is used to scandal.
The minister said that the protest of the aggrieved workers has rather “boosted” her popularity.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim made the remark on Friday during a town hall meeting with the workers at the National Centre for Women Development, following the protest staged by staff of the ministry two days ago.
It was reported on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, that the workers blocked the ministry’s headquarters gate and locked out the minister in protest over prolonged neglect and poor welfare conditions.
The protesters lamented that they had neither received any welfare package nor been trained.
“No welfare, no training,” they said, noting that even when they were sent to attend a programme with their money with a promise to reimburse them, they never got the supposed reimbursement.
“They will ask us to go for a programme, we will go with our money but they will not pay us. Till today, a trip of January they have not paid us for it. Trips of 2023, they have not paid us for them,” one of them said.
They alleged, “And money has been coming in but they (the leaders in the ministry) will pack it and keep it for themselves.”
However, addressing the workers on Friday, Sulaiman-Ibrahim said she was not angry about the demonstration, noting that as a politician, she was accustomed to public controversies.
“Let me tell you something, I’m not angry with any of you. I am a politician. We are used to scandals and crises. My concern was that there were concerns in the home, and we should iron them out. And that is why I came. I am not upset,” the minister said, according to PUNCH.
She added, “In fact, I’m even now a more popular politician. Because people who didn’t know me now know me.”
Sulaiman-Ibrahim told the workers that her office had been making efforts to address their welfare concerns, noting that she had been fully briefed on the issues by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary.
“I know the problems we have, the Perm Sec has discussed with me. We have tried to be creative.
“Trust me, when she came, she spoke to me about welfare. I was the one who told her where we can pay welfare,” the minister explained.
She further stressed that she was not desperate to remain in office, adding that her record of service already speaks for itself.
However, in what seemed as an appeal for cooperation, Sulaiman-Ibrahim urged the aggrieved workers to respect authority and focus on the collective goal of advancing President Bola Tinubu’s agenda for Nigerian women.”
