By Kelvin Ololo
The Cross River State Government has cancelled the controversial 2024/2025 Local Government recruitment exercise, retaining 821 personnel and approved a fresh recruitment exercise for 4,000 workers.
The decision follows the submission and consideration of the report of a Panel of Enquiry set up to investigate the recruitment exercise conducted by the now-defunct Local Government Commission.
A statement on the development, signed by the Secretary to the Cross River State Government, Prof. Anthony Owan-Enoh, on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, said the panel found the recruitment exercise “fundamentally flawed,” citing lack of executive approvals, alleged job racketeering, commercialization of employment slots, institutional complicity, ineptitude and breaches of public service ethics.
According to the statement, the panel recommended the cancellation of the entire exercise, except for 83 CROSIEC personnel who were initially employed by the Cross River State Civil Service Commission and subsequently redeployed to the Local Government Service Commission.
Government said the 821 personnel recognized as legitimate were duly approved by Governor Bassey Edet Otu, including the 83 CROSIEC personnel, and would be retained on the government payroll.
“All other persons who entered the payroll through unauthorized or illegal recruitment processes are hereby phased out,” the government said.
However, affected persons who are removed from the payroll will not be left without compensation, as the government directed that they be paid compensatory benefits while measures are taken to comprehensively “unbundle and sanitise” the Local Government payroll.
The government also approved the recruitment of 4,000 personnel through what it described as a fresh and transparent recruitment process.
It said the new exercise would deploy digital platforms and modern procedures to determine staffing needs objectively and ensure that recruitment is based on established requirements.
Persons affected by the cancellation who possess the required qualifications and meet the stipulated conditions were encouraged to reapply through the new recruitment process.
The government further directed the Attorney-General of the State and relevant law-enforcement agencies to commence immediate investigations into the circumstances surrounding the previous recruitment exercise and prosecute anyone found culpable in accordance with the law.
While expressing sympathy for citizens who may have fallen victim to what it described as a criminal enterprise, the government maintained that it could not assume responsibility for appointments that were not authorized, approved or issued through a lawful recruitment process.
It said doing otherwise would amount to legitimizing fraud, compromising due process and undermining the integrity of the public service.
The government urged affected persons and members of the public to remain calm and take advantage of the fresh recruitment opportunity, stressing that the decision was intended to promote transparency, fairness, accountability and adherence to due process in the management of the state’s public service.
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