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Civil servants sacked by Cross River state governor Ben Ayade led administration have on Tuesday stormed the Governor’s office protesting their disengagement .
Drawn from various ministries, Judiciary, parastatals and agencies, the protesters disrupted activities in government offices for several hours.
The protesters, who carried placards with various messages such as “Attempt to disengage teachers is unacceptable, reinstate us now, stop punishing us, pay us our wages, is removing our names from payroll a way to say thank you for re-electing you” amongst others blocked governor’s office on Tuesday, sang songs and disrupted official duties.
Speaking with journalist on Tuesday, a staff of Cross River State Geographic Information Agencies (CRSGIA), identified as Daniel, regretted the none payment of their salaries.
He said, “We got approval from His Excellency, since last year, we have done all necessary document and this is 18 months we have not been paid. We are suffering, we have not been paid, we are 56 staff affected in CRSGIA.
“We were employed in 2011 by Governor Liyel Imoke and started working since then, until when Governor Ben Ayade came and we started having salary issue. During Imoke’s administration, we were given salaries two times a month but when Governor Ayade came we started having salary issues.
“When Governor Ayade came, he converted us to central pay, we got approval, duly sign by him, we finished the process since May this year but nothing was given to us. This is 18 months now we have not been paid, we are dying, we have families, we need help,” he decried.
Also, a staff of the judiciary who gave his name as Essien Etim, said, “We were employed in 2015, we have our confirmation letters and our names were in the payroll before they were removed 3 months ago. We were employed in accordance with civil service rules.
“We want our entitlement, our 2 months salaries, September and October paid. No reason was given to us at the disengagement. Now, there is secret reinstatement going on in the state, sponsored by the SA Payroll to the Governor, water board has been doing reinstatement, those who were sacked in 2018 last year have been reinstated but those of us employed in 2015 have not been reinstated,” he said.
He listed the ministries and parastatals that were presence at the governor’s office amongst others to include, Secondary Education Board, Teachers, Civil Servants, Lawyers, Ministries, and Department Agencies.
“We went to the House of Assembly and the Speaker spoke to us, he said he will speak with the Governor,” he added.
Sadly, for over several hours, the protest lasted, no single government official came out to address the demonstrators.
The State Governor, Prof Ben Ayade, his deputy Prof Ivara Esu, Secretary to the State Government, Tina Banku, and other key government officials were not around to receive the protester .
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