Newly employed Cross River local government workers protest 11 months of unpaid salaries in Calabar, urging Governor Bassey Otu to enroll them on the state payroll.
Newly employed local government workers in Cross River State staged a peaceful protest in Calabar, the state capital, on Wednesday, over 11 months of unpaid salaries, demanding that Governor Bassey Otu approve their enrollment on the state payroll.
Drawn from various local government areas across the state, the protesters marched through major streets to the Governor’s Office despite a downpour, carrying placards bearing inscriptions including “We are suffering,” “Payroll us,” and “We need our salaries.”
Protest leader Uchi Julius, speaking on behalf of the workers, stated that many of those employed in 2025 had resumed duty but had yet to receive any salary after working for close to a year.
“The prolonged delay has really subjected many workers to severe hardship. Some of us are now struggling to feed our families. Some of us have died during the verification process initiated by the government,” Julius told the gathering.
Julius disclosed that the group had lost more than six colleagues. “They can never return,” he said.
Julius also referenced a government employment pledge. “One of the campaign promises was massive employment,” he stated, adding that 2,000 health workers said to have been employed were present at the protest, yet many had not been paid. Workers, he noted, had not gathered to beg for money but to collect what they had earned.
Among the protesters was Happiness Augustine, who stated that she had rendered a full year of service without receiving a single salary payment. “I was employed in 2025. Up till now, I have not been paid. It is one year in my office, and I have not received any salary. We are begging Governor Bassey Otu to have mercy on us and pay us because we have been diligent in our duties,” she said.
Augustine appealed to the governor to intervene regardless of any administrative bottlenecks holding up the payroll process. “We are on our knees begging him to pay us. We have families to take care of, and we have continued working without salaries,” she added.
Augustine further disclosed that a colleague died in a road accident while traveling to a government-organized screening exercise held after an earlier protest by the workers.
“We came for a protest before, and a panel was set up. During the screening process, one of our colleagues had an accident on his way and died,” she told the crowd gathered at the governor’s office.
Augustine called on the governor to make a public statement on the matter, adding that the workers were still waiting for a formal response on the colleague’s death and the outstanding payments owed to all affected employees across the state.
Secretary to the State Government Prof. Anthony Enoh acknowledged the workers’ concerns and assured them that the state government was working to resolve the issue.
Enoh confirmed that following the earlier protest, the state government had constituted a panel of inquiry, which had since submitted its report, and that a white paper recommending the next course of action had also been prepared.
“When you came here last time, I reported your concerns to the governor, and a panel of inquiry was set up. That panel has submitted its report, and we are now at the implementation stage,” Enoh stated.
Enoh appealed to the workers to remain patient and gave a specific timeline for government action. “I assure you that within two weeks, all of you will smile. If you have waited for almost a year, two weeks is not too long. Before you come back here again, you will see what the government is going to do in your favor,” the SSG told the protesters.
Wednesday’s demonstration marks at least the second time the newly employed local government workers have marched to the Governor’s Office in Calabar over the salary dispute, with the state government yet to place the workers on the payroll despite the panel’s concluded review and the prepared white paper on the matter.
