It appears the hue and cry that attended Labour’s docile posture in respect of the laptops saga in the Cross River State Civil Service has yielded fruits, though in another angle, www.calitown.com can reveal. In a direct response to circular no. CRC/6062/S.2/Vol.2/28 of May 19, 2014, titled “Registration of Eligible Candidates for the Competitive Promotion Examination for Senior Civil Servants”, which directed the category of staff eligible for the examination to pay a non-refundable fee of N1, 000, before they can write the examination, Labour in CRS has raised serious objection to the latest in a series of financial scams directed at civil servants in the state.
A copy of Labour’s bulletin no. 1/2014, emanating from the State Public Service Negotiating Council, made availabe to www.calitown.com, informs “all civil/public servants in CRS that Labour objects vehemently to examination before promotion” and advised civil/public servants in the state “not to pay the illegal charges”. It further !implored the Civil Service Commission to withdraw circular No.2/2014 forthwith and desist from toying with the destiny of civil servants in the state”.
Perhaps Labour in the state is finally waking up to the negative realities on the ground and may have moved against government as it is becoming clear that various schemes are being perfected by a few individuals to draw cash from a civil service already crawling under the weight of financial deductions that have only favoured the scammers. One civil servant told www.calitown.com that “it would have made more sense if Labour spoke up against the laptops that we didn’t have real need for, but they kept quiet and are only saying no now because I think no carrot may have been dangled before them, it is a shame”.
As it stands, the examination which was to hold in four centres; Calabar, Ikom, Ogoja and Abuja, may be put forward until further notice.
