Nsa Gill, Calabar
Speaker of Cross River State House of Assembly, Eteng Williams, on Thursday expressed support for the peaceful protest by over 2,500 workers whose names were delisted from the government payroll for over year without pay.
The delisted workers have been staging peaceful protests since Monday.
They have occupied the entrance gate to the state secretariat and marched to the House of Assembly, among other places.
Addressing the delisted workers, Eteng said: “We feel your pains. My younger ones are involved, about three of them. So, it is not just the number of you that have come out here. There are a thousand and one others out there.”
The Speaker said he was embarrassed by the situation, adding: “On two occasions, we summoned the people in government handling the screening and verification. What we have asked is: ‘Are you not done with it? How long are you going to continue with it? You can’t continue with screening endlessly.’
“As a member of this government, I am embarrassed by this situation and the issue keeps embarrassing me. This screening is getting too long. I am saying it openly here without minding anything.”
On his encounter with the verification committee members, Etang said: “We told them to come out with a position paper on where they are and what they are doing. We told them to also let us know what the position of government is on what they are doing and where they are on their job.
