Civil servants in Rivers State at the weekend staged a protest against a mandatory staff verification exercise a few days before the expiration of the emergency rule in the State.

The workers took to the streets of Port Harcourt, chanting solidarity songs to condemn the alleged inhuman treatment over the uncoordinated verification exercise initiated by the Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd).

The workers lamented being cramped into the Alfred Diete Spiff Civic Centre since Friday and staying all night until Saturday, September 13, 2025, without being attended to. They tagged the exercise as a charade, accusing Vice Admiral Ibas of clandestine motives.

The workers regretted that similar chaos broke out last week when the verification exercise started, and people were not attended to due to poor arrangements and organisation.

The workers stated that the exercise was ill-timed, alleging that the Sole Administrator, Ibas, only wanted to use it to justify the State government budget that was criticised.

The Guardian gathered that the names of workers who have served in various Local Government Areas, Ministries, and Parastatals were omitted due to lack of adequate manpower and space to capture the workers; hence, when salaries were paid, those whose names were not captured did not receive salaries, a situation which infuriated the workers.

One Mrs. Ibim George, a deputy director, said, “Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas is trying to justify the funds he looted in the name of civil servants’ audit and verification.”

She noted that Ibas is attempting to declare over 15,000 workers as ghosts just to justify the unverified declaration of saving N5bn from an exercise that never took place.

Another worker, Amadi Amaechi, said, “You know that during emergency rule, things are done in opposing methods; that’s why we never wanted the emergency regime.

“The reason you see the chaos was because the verification exercise was not well organised and planned. They just kept two tables for a local government of about 2,000 and designated just one day for them to be attended to; that is impossible,” he said.

“Definitely, the protest that happened is unexpected when things are not properly done. It is ill-planned, not with good intention, and should be cancelled. There is no good intention about the exercise at all.”

Another worker in Port Harcourt City Local Council, who gave her name as Pauline, said, “Salaries were paid. People from LGAs and MDAs who have put in over eight years in service, their names were not captured, and salaries were not paid. This is very sad. It was not properly done, though we know that it won’t stand.”

Some others, who do not want their names in print, emphasised that they stayed all night waiting to be verified but were not attended to, leaving a lot of workers stranded without receiving their August salaries.

They called for a probe of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas and the exercise, as they alleged that several billions have been expended for the exercise without any positive outcome.

The workers vowed that the exercise is futile except it is properly organized and handled, alleging that the Sole Administrator hastily organized the exercise to curry favour before the public and gain publicity as he plans to exit office.

Recall that Ibas had revealed that the verification of state workers and pensioners in Rivers State disclosed a shocking nearly 12,000 ghost workers and pensioners on the payroll of the state. (The Guardian)