Newly employed staff under the Cross River State Unified Local Government Service Commission on Monday staged a peaceful protest in Calabar, appealing to Governor to intervene over the non-payment of their salaries since April 2025.
The workers, drawn from various departments including the health sector, said they have continued reporting to duty for about 11 months without being placed on the government payroll despite being duly employed by the state.
Speaking during the protest, one of the workers said the demonstration was aimed at drawing the attention of the state government to their plight.
“We are out here to appeal to the government to look into the situation of newly recruited local government workers. We are not on the payroll, yet we have been going to work consistently. That is the problem and that is why we are here to table our issue before the rightful authority,” the worker said.
According to the protesters, the prolonged delay in salary payments has left many of them struggling to meet basic needs, including feeding their families and sending their children to school.
In a written appeal addressed to the governor, the workers expressed appreciation to the administration for the employment opportunity but said the continued absence of salaries had created severe hardship among them.
“For over nine months now, many of us who were employed through the Local Government Service Commission have been reporting to our duty posts faithfully without being placed on the payroll. Despite our commitment to serve the state diligently, we have not received salaries to sustain ourselves and our families,” the workers stated.
They added that some employees had abandoned small private businesses or relocated from distant communities to take up the government appointments, only to face financial hardship due to the delay in salary payments.
“Among us are parents whose children have been unable to return to school. Feeding our families and fulfilling basic responsibilities have become extremely difficult,” the statement added.
Responding to the protesters, the Secretary to the State Government, assured them that the government was already addressing the issue.
Enoh acknowledged the workers’ right to protest and disclosed that the state government had already held several meetings to resolve the matter.
“What you are doing is your right and nobody will say they are against you,” he told the protesters.
“I can assure you that we have had about three meetings already on the issue of local government employment, recruitment and payroll. By this week Thursday, we are going to have the final meeting with His Excellency who has been away in Abuja for some important engagements.”
He explained that the delay was partly due to the need to verify genuine employees and resolve administrative issues within the commission.
“We are aware there were some hitches along the way before the employment process was concluded, which led to some shake-up in the Local Government Service Commission. The governor wants to ensure that only those genuinely employed are placed on the payroll,” he said.
Enoh assured the workers that the matter would be resolved soon and encouraged them to remain patient.
“You were employed by the government and everything will be followed duly and procedurally. Those who are genuinely employed will be placed on the payroll,” he said.
The protesters, however, maintained that their action was not intended to confront the government but to respectfully seek urgent intervention to alleviate the hardship they have endured for months.
Relatively, Tribune Online observed that Cross River state has recently experienced numerous protests from various groups, including minibus drivers, tricycle drivers, staff and students of the state-owned university (UNICROSS), as well as demonstrations concerning the rectorship position at Federal Polytechnic, Ugep.
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