Newly recruited legal officers in C-River unpaid six months after

By Emma Una

CALABAR—SIX months after assuming duties as legal officers, 40 young lawyers in Cross River State,  are yet to be included in the payroll of the state, following instructions from the state governor,  Prof. Ben Ayade, that their payment be suspended.

The lawyers were recruited with the approval of the governor on November 25.

The  Attorney General of the state, Mr Joe Abang,  who was instrumental to their employment in a letter to the governor  expressed gratitude  for approving the recruitment  which he said would boost legal services in the state  and prayed that they be documented, which was approved by the governor.

Surprisingly on March 24,  this year,   the governor through the Secretary to State Government, SSG,  Mrs Tina Agbor instructed  that their payment be suspended.

In a letter with reference number, SSG/GSA/S/26/VOLX11/543 entitled Withholding the payment of newly employed lawyers, Mrs Agbor told the Attorney General and Head of Service that “Governor Ayade has directed that you put on  hold  the process for the payment of the newly recruited lawyers. You are to forward the list to him though the office of the SSG for further processing.”

Since then, the lawyers whose hopes had been raised with expectation that they would be paid at the end of March had their hopes dashed and have been languishing in hardship.

“Ask them? We have not been paid since we started work in November and we do not know when we would be paid. Those at the top know what is going,” a female lawyer told Vanguard.

She said that they had not received any allowances and have been paying their way to office and the courts every day.

She said paying rent for their apartments has been a difficult task.  “My landlord has been on my neck and when I tell him I have not been paid, he would not believe because in the past when I was working with a law firm, I paid my rents promptly.”

Mr Abang, the Attorney General referred Vanguard to the Head of Service and the Permanent Secretary in the office of the Service, Emmanuel Eke, who said that the governor directed the Office of the Head of Service not to put additional names in the payroll until the issue of promotions and what would cost the state in additional wage bill was sorted out.

“Unfortunately, their matter came up when the governor and labour were working out the issue of promotions and the governor directed that there should be no additions into the wage bill until what the state would pay when promotions are effected is sorted out and I can assure you that once that is done, they would be paid in arrears,” he added.

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