The Cross River State Government has approved the recruitment of 4,000 fresh workers into the local government service following the cancellation of the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise, described as fundamentally flawed and marred by alleged job racketeering.
The Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Anthony Owan-Enoh, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, following the submission of a panel report on the exercise conducted by the defunct Local Government Commission.
Owan-Enoh said the panel found that the recruitment lacked the Governor’s approval and breached public service rules, extant laws and financial regulations. It also identified institutional complicity, ineptitude and lack of transparency and accountability.
The government consequently nullified the exercise, except for 83 CROSIEC personnel earlier employed by the Civil Service Commission and subsequently transferred to the Local Government Service Commission.
It said only 821 personnel whose recruitment had been duly approved by the Governor would remain on the payroll, while others recruited through unauthorised processes would be phased out.
Speaking on a radio programme monitored by Nigerian Tribune on Friday, Chairman of the Local Government Service Commission, Eyo Ekpo, said affected workers would be allowed to reapply when a new recruitment portal opens within the next two to three weeks.
“Nothing precludes those who have been laid off by this unfortunate but very, very necessary decision from reapplying,” Ekpo said.
He added that the government was still working out modalities for compensating affected workers.
“The issue of what will be seen as compensatory is still being worked out,” he stated.
Ekpo assured qualified indigenes and other eligible applicants of a transparent recruitment process, saying digital platforms would be deployed to determine staffing needs and ensure employment was based on established requirements.
The state government also directed the Attorney-General and relevant law enforcement agencies to investigate the cancelled exercise and prosecute anyone found culpable.
It said legitimate employees recruited with due approval had continued to receive their salaries, while those removed from the payroll would receive compensatory benefits.
The government said it would also undertake a comprehensive sanitisation of the local government payroll, insisting that it could not legitimise appointments made without lawful approval.
It urged affected persons to remain calm and take advantage of the fresh recruitment window, assuring citizens of its commitment to a transparent and professional local government service.