Hundreds of youths from across the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers State this Tuesday (11/11/25) staged a peaceful demonstration at the Government House, Port Harcourt, demanding the release of their long-awaited civil service appointment and posting letters.
The protesters, drawn from the pool of 10,000 successful applicants documented during the Rivers State Civil Service recruitment exercise, carried placards with inscriptions such as “Your Excellency, We Have Suffered Enough,” “Release Our Appointment Letters,” “We Want to Contribute to Rivers State,” and “The Silence Is Deafening.”
Speaking on behalf of the group, Engr. Ajoku Okechukwu appealed to Governor Siminalayi Fubara to urgently address their situation, noting that the applicants have been screened, interviewed, and documented since September and October 2023, yet no appointment letters have been issued.
In a letter addressed to the governor and read during the demonstration, the group commended the administration for its “people-oriented policies,” including the implementation of the ₦85,000 minimum wage, civil service promotions, and ongoing infrastructural developments.
They, however, insisted that employment remains a major cornerstone of human capacity development and therefore demanded immediate action from the Governor.
They therefore demanded the issuance of appointment and posting letters to all documented candidates, inclusion of all qualified applicants aged 50 and below, proper monitoring of the distribution process, and commencement of biometrics and orientation immediately after issuance.
Contributing, Comrade Collins Akpanna, Chairman of Persons Living With Disability, Rivers State Chapter, expressed deep concern over what he described as abandonment, lamenting that persons with disabilities who scaled through the recruitment process have waited over two years without feedback.
While appealing for the release of their appointment letters to enable them live meaningful lives, Akpanna declared: “We were tested, verified, and documented, yet abandoned. It is unbearable. We are here peacefully because we believe the governor is a man of conscience.”
In her speech, Victoria Ekpoke, representing Andoni LGA, recalled that she was five months pregnant during the documentation in 2023.
“We are pleading with the governor to take us off the streets. We just want jobs; we want to be useful. Please release our appointment letters,” she said.
They expressed confidence that Governor Fubara would intervene promptly to end their prolonged frustration.
