Over 2000 civil servants in Akwa Ibom State employed by the immediate past administration in the state have sent a passionate appeal to the state governor, Mr Udom Gabriel Emmanuel to clear their 2015 backlog of salary (arrears) owed them by the State Government, else they will have no option than to go on protest.
The civil servants were employed by then Governor Akpabio’s administration between December 2014 and April 2015 and the State Government under Mr Udom Emmanuel bluntly refused to pay their salaries and entitlements despite putting in their services for government during that period, even when the government has collected two tranches of Billions of Naira from the Paris Club Debt Refunds.
Governor Emmanuel on Assumption of duties in May 2015 had threatened to Terminate the appointments, but was forced to rescind on his plans because of the Appeal Court judgement that nullified his election and called for a fresh election in the state. He then hurriedly ordered that the officers should be payrolled into the State Integrated Pay Roll System.
He had also set up a committee to verify the appointments but up until now, the findings of the committee that was given two weeks to support its report in June 2015 is yet to be made public.
The Head of Service in the state, Mrs Ekerebong Akpan had on a radio interview late April this year promised that the government will settle the arrears of salaries of the workers employed in 2014, but since then, nothing has been heard about it, while the affected workers keep on suffering.
According to feelers from the State Head of Service office, “There is no plan by Udom’s administration to pay those arrears of salary, because first the governor was force based on his thinking that the Supreme Court will order for re-run election in the state, that was why he did not terminate the appointments of those civil servants, so pressuring him to pay the arrears of salary again, its seems impossible, if that salary payment was in the governor’s plan, he would have approved it right from the time he collected the first tranche of Paris Club Refund”.
Some of the affected civil servants who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity due to the nature of their job, noted that it is painful working for government for the whole one year and more, and the salary is not paid, even when the government has collected billions of naira from the Paris Club Refund.
Effort to speak with Akwa Ibom State Head of Service, Mrs Ekerebong Akpan was not successful as several calls to her phone number were not picked and visits to her office at the Government House Complex, Uyo shows that she doesn’t attain to any reporter on that issue.
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