By Bassey Nkponam
UYO
The Akwa Ibom governor has directed the State Civil Service Commission to commence issuance of appointment letters to successful candidates in the 2026 civil service recruitment exercise, with the newly recruited workers expected to resume duty on October 1, 2026.
Eno gave the directive Friday, September 18, 2026, after receiving the report of the recruitment exercise from the Chairman of the State Civil Service Commission, Mrs. Ekerebong Umoh, at the Governor’s Office, Uyo.
He said the recruitment exercise demonstrated his administration’s commitment to ensuring fairness and equal opportunity for qualified Akwa Ibom indigenes seeking to contribute to the development of the state.
Eno commended the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission and the Commissioner for Science and Digital Economy and his team for their roles in ensuring a transparent recruitment process, particularly the use of technology in conducting the examination and obtaining results.
The governor expressed optimism that the recruitment process would be remembered as part of efforts to build a state where opportunities are accessible to qualified citizens, while also addressing the issue of state character in public employment.
He, however, cautioned against indiscriminate recruitment into the public service, directing the Head of the Civil Service to undertake a comprehensive review of existing vacancies before further employment is carried out.
Eno said future recruitment must be guided by the actual manpower requirements of the various ministries, departments and agencies in order to prevent unnecessary expansion of the state workforce.
“We know we have vacancies still left in the Civil Service. The Head of Service will, after we take these ones in, do a proper review and analysis of other vacancies that we still want to fill.
“What I don’t want is just recruiting for and flood the place. Let us recruit based on need so that we don’t bloat the workforce,” he stated.
In a related development, Governor Eno has approved the recruitment of an additional 1,000 primary school teachers, bringing the total number of teachers approved for recruitment by the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to 2,000.
The governor explained that he had earlier approved 1,000 teachers but reconsidered the decision in view of the need to strengthen the workforce in primary schools across the state.
“SUBEB is also working on employing teachers. They need to do the CBT. So once they fix a date, they wanted two thousand and I approved one thousand, but again, so that we can have enough teachers in our primary schools, I have rescinded my decision of one thousand. Let me approve their two thousand (2,000),” he declared.
He consequently directed the Head of the Civil Service to work closely with the Chairman of SUBEB to ensure that the recruited teachers are deployed to schools where their services are most needed.
According to him, recruitment must be accompanied by a detailed analysis of manpower shortages in individual schools to ensure that newly employed teachers are deployed to genuine vacancies.
“But again, Head of Service, you must work with the Chairman of SUBEB to ensure that they provide a detailed analysis of their postings based on the need for workforce.
“I want to see where teachers will be posted. We don’t just employ, create a vacancy, show me, this school, we were supposed to have 20, we have 5, so you have short 4. We need to see this kind of analysis to ensure that when these 2,000 come in, we are deploying them to the vacancies that have already existed,” he said.
Presenting the report of the 2026 recruitment exercise, the chairman of the State Civil Service Commission, Mrs. Ekerebong Umoh, disclosed that more than 36,000 candidates registered through the recruitment portal.
She said 12,000 applicants qualified to proceed to the first interview stage after the Computer-Based Test (CBT), with candidates who scored 50 per cent and above proceeding to the oral interview for the final selection.
Umoh described the exercise as a comprehensive and demanding process, given the large number of applicants seeking employment in the state civil service.
She said the screening process also revealed a number of factors that affected some candidates’ chances of securing employment.
According to her, some applicants were inadequately prepared for the oral interview, while others could not produce the required certificates. She also cited outstanding certificates despite years of graduation, multiple age declarations, applications made with qualifications that did not match the advertised positions, and cases of malpractice during the exercise.
The commission chairman expressed regret that the recruitment exercise could not accommodate the large number of applicants who participated, while congratulating those who emerged successful.
Governor Eno, meanwhile, reiterated his directive that the successful candidates should receive their appointment letters and commence work on October 1, 2026.
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