Governor Eno Approves N1.6bn Transport Refund for Youths Who Sat CBT
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, has approved the payment of N50,000 transport allowance to each of the 33,461 applicants who participated in the recently concluded Computer-Based Test for civil service recruitment. The payment amounts to over N1.6 billion.
The CBT exercise began on November 4, 2025, and was held at the newly upgraded Civil Service Auditorium in Uyo.
The government modernized the facility with more than 400 computers, stable power supply, and full digital infrastructure to ensure a transparent, efficient, and merit-driven assessment process for prospective civil servants.
Governor Eno announced the transport refund after receiving a performance and outcome report from the Commissioner for Science and Digital Economy, Dr. Frank Ekpenyong, on Thursday.
The statement later released by the Government House press unit confirmed that the allowance was intended to ease the financial burden of participants.
According to the Governor, “People don’t come for interviews and walk away with nothing. Let them get the fifty thousand naira they spent on transport and lunch.”
He also disclosed a structured pathway for all categories of applicants. Those who did not meet the cutoff score would be enrolled into the Dakkada Skills Acquisition Programme, ensuring they still gain employable skills and opportunities for income generation.
He emphasized that while not everyone could be absorbed into the civil service, the state’s ongoing projects required skilled manpower, making technical training a strategic alternative.
For candidates who passed the CBT, the Governor announced that oral interviews for the 12,000 applicants who scored between 50 and 90 percent would be conducted from January to February. He directed the immediate formation of a committee to supervise the screening and interview stages.
Eno added that 4,000 candidates would receive their employment letters by the first week of March, followed by mandatory training and proper onboarding.
He further directed the creation of a comprehensive database of the remaining successful candidates, noting that they would be prioritized for future recruitment needs within the next two to three years.
“We need four thousand now. Next time we need one thousand, we simply select from this database. So, there is hope,” he said.
Presenting the report earlier, Commissioner Ekpenyong confirmed that 37,314 people applied, 33,461 sat the CBT, and 12,502 scored 50 percent and above.
He also revealed that Persons with Disabilities received a special one-hour session instead of the standard 40 minutes. Only one PWD candidate scored up to 60 percent, while two candidates from the general pool recorded exceptional scores of 90 percent.
