Despite not declaring open, employment into the core civil service since 2015, investigations have shown that the Akwa Ibom State Government is secretly recruiting employees.
Findings also reveal that workers have been resuming in ministries, departments and agencies without undergoing any formal employment process.
Although the government, through the Head of the Civil Service (HoCS), Mr. Effiong Essien, has denied the development, applicants have accused the government of insincerity and double standards.
Many of the commissioners and permanent secretaries have feigned ignorance about the recruitment, saying they were not privy to any notice or declaration of vacancies.
However, The Nation can report that top government officials and politicians use their connections to secure employment for their cronies, while some applicants pay huge amount as bribe to some corrupt government officials to secure jobs.
The officials, according to applicants who have parted with huge sums to gain employment, receive between N200, 000 and N300,000 as bribe.
One of the applicants, Mrs. Enobong Akpaah, said she paid N250,000 to a top government official to secure a job, but had not gotten the job.
“We are many who have paid money to get civil service jobs. I paid since last April. Others who paid have resumed duty. I am yet to get my employment letter,” she said.
But the HoCS, Essien, has denied secret employment. He, however, admitted that those being employed were selected from the data bank of those who had responded to the advertised vacancies.