Cross River State Cancels Local Government Jobs, Offers 4,000 New Positions

The Cross River State Government has cancelled the 2024/2025 Local Government recruitment. They called the process fundamentally flawed and said it was affected by alleged job racketeering and the commercialization of job slots.

This information was shared in a statement by Anthony Owan-Enoh, who is the secretary to the Cross River State Government, on Thursday in Calabar.

The government made this decision after looking at a report from a panel set up to investigate the recruitment done by the old Local Government Commission. The panel found that the recruitment did not have approval from the governor. It also broke public service rules, laws, and financial regulations.

The panel also noted issues like lack of transparency, accountability, and ineptitude in how the recruitment was handled.

Because of this report, the entire recruitment exercise is now cancelled, except for 83 CROSIEC personnel who were first hired by the Cross River Civil Service Commission and later moved to the Local Government Service Commission.

Only 821 personnel whose hiring was approved by the governor will keep their jobs in the government. All other people who got onto the payroll through unauthorized or illegal recruitment will be removed.

To give qualified people a fresh chance, the government has approved the hiring of 4,000 new personnel through a new, transparent process. This new exercise will use digital platforms and modern hiring methods to fairly assess staffing needs. It aims to make sure that jobs are given based on set criteria.

The government has encouraged those affected by the cancellation who meet the qualifications to apply again through the new recruitment process. They also ordered the Attorney-General and other law enforcement agencies to investigate what went wrong during the recruitment and take legal action against anyone involved.

The government stated that legitimate workers of the Local Government Service Commission who were properly hired continue to receive their salaries. However, they mentioned that those removed from the payroll due to the cancellation would receive some compensatory benefits.

They added that they will take steps to thoroughly clean up and reorganize the entire payroll. The government expressed sympathy for citizens who fell victim to what they described as a “criminal enterprise.” They also said they cannot take responsibility for jobs that were not properly authorized or done through legal recruitment processes.

“To do otherwise would mean accepting fraud, going against due process, and damaging the public service's integrity,” they said. The government urged the public, especially those affected by this decision, to stay calm and take advantage of the new recruitment opportunity.

They reiterated their commitment to building a professional, transparent, efficient, and people-centered public service.