Akwa Ibom State Government has debunked allegations that it is involved in secret employment in the state civil service.
The State Head of Service, Effiong Essien made the denial while speaking to newsmen in Uyo on Tuesday against the backdrop of complaints from the unsuspecting public, warning that anyone caught issuing fake employment letters to applicants would face dismissal from service.
He said his office had been fighting to apprehend the syndicate and called for partnership and useful information from the public to apprehend the culprits.
“There are a whole lot of speculations and fake news about employment. There are also scammers all around the state in the name of employment. There is no doubt that some of them may even give fake employment letters to people.
“If you hear of such things, mention the name of the person and possibly the department so we can verify. My office would gladly want to know who has employed someone in the Akwa Ibom State Civil Service without the Head of Service knowing about it,” the official stated.
Essien said he was interested in the matter because the issue ”is so much in the public domain about secret employment. The thing seems to be a ghost”.
“I don’t have any doubt about racketeering. Let us partner; let me know the members of that racket, he remarked, adding that ”the public service rule is there for any civil service caught in serious misconduct”, and that ”if such a person is found wanting, at the end of it, it is dismissal from service.”
Essien reiterated that no one would be spared if found culpable of such an ignominious act.
”You can inbox me privately, and I can assure you of privacy to such information.
“I have gone on air to enlighten members of the public that people should not be involved in any secret employment because there is nothing like that. Let nobody collect money from any person in the name of employment. It is fake,” he stated.
Essien announced that the service would soon be fully digitized with a team working on it since the beginning of the year adding that governor Udom Emmanuel had shown interest in the complete digitization of the service.
He decried the nonchalant attitude of workers towards work despite the state government’s commitment to pay salaries and added that training on attitudinal orientation and emotional intelligence for workers meant to work on their psyche had commenced in batches.
The HOS explained that the process of recruiting 1,000 teachers for primary schools would soon be sorted out while verification for payment of gratuities for retired primary school teachers for the 2019/2020 batch would soon be fulfilled.
He mentioned that the financial involvement of gratuities including those inherited from previous administrations remained high even as the government had been working on settling more gratuities after the payment of the 2016 batch.
Essien commended the governor for his prompt responses to workers’ needs, especially the recent Nigerian Union of Teachers’ strike, and assured civil servants of the speedy development of the civil service estate in Ibiono Ibom and Ikono Local Councils.
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