Workers in Cross River said the lifting of the embargo placed on the promotion of civil servants by Governor Ben Ayade came late. They, therefore, said they would not applaud him, alleging that it was meant to burden the incoming administration.

The workers disclosed this in separate interviews on Monday in Calabar. They said the governor was only trying to increase the wage bill of the incoming administration.

The Cross River government in a statement signed by its head of service, Timothy Akwaji, lifted the embargo on promotion in the state’s civil service from 2016 to 2023.

The notice, which was with immediate effect, directed all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) responsible for staff promotion to comply immediately.

However, Daniel Ashang, a staff of the information ministry, said Mr Ayade’s action in the twilight of his administration meant he did not care for the interest of workers.

“You cannot lift an embargo when you have less than a month as governor. It invariably means you are putting the wage bill on the incoming government, and we cannot applaud him for that,” Mr Ashang explained.

Mr Ashang said if the governor had the interest of workers at heart, he would have done so years before the end of his administration.

“But rather, he chose to appoint over 6,000 political aides to sing his praises. These appointments had no direct benefit to the service, and there was no productivity because he called it his food on the table policy,” he added.

Veronica Ukpong, another civil servant, said the state’s workforce was depleted as everyone employed in 1988 would be leaving in 2023 without young people to take over.

Ms Ukpong said many technocrats would leave the service with their knowledge without training anyone because the state failed to recruit, imposing a promotion embargo in 2016.

She advised the incoming administration not to play politics with the civil service but to engage people productively to improve the service and the state.

“The new administration in the state must not toe the line of its predecessor. It has to ensure that things work by recruiting workers as and when due,” she said.

(NAN)