The Cross River State Government has retained 821 personnel from the recent Local Government recruitment exercise and approved 4,000 fresh jobs, creating a new opportunity for qualified applicants following the cancellation of the flawed 2024/2025 recruitment exercise.
The decision followed the submission and consideration of the report of the Panel of Enquiry set up to investigate the recruitment conducted by the defunct Local Government Commission.
In a statement dated September 9, 2026 and signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Anthony Owan-Enoh, the government said the 821 personnel duly approved by Governor Bassey Edet Otu, including 83 CROSIEC personnel initially employed by the State Civil Service Commission and later redeployed to the Local Government Service Commission, would be retained on the government payroll.
The government said the panel found the wider recruitment exercise fundamentally flawed, citing the absence of executive approvals, widespread job racketeering, commercialization of employment slots, institutional complicity, ineptitude and breaches of public service ethics.
Consequently, all other persons who entered the payroll through unauthorized or illegal recruitment processes will be phased out, while legitimate employees lawfully recruited with due government approval will continue to receive their salaries as and when due.
Announcing the fresh recruitment opportunity, the government said it had “graciously approved the recruitment of 4,000 personnel through a fresh and transparent recruitment exercise.”
According to the statement, the new process will deploy digital platforms and modern procedures to objectively determine staffing needs and ensure that recruitment is based on established requirements.
“Persons affected by this difficult but necessary decision who possess the requisite qualifications and requirements are encouraged to reapply through the new recruitment process,” the government said.
The government also directed the Attorney-General of the State and relevant law-enforcement agencies to immediately commence investigations into the circumstances surrounding the previous recruitment exercise and prosecute persons found culpable in accordance with the law.
To cushion the impact of the decision on persons who will be removed from the payroll, government said compensatory benefits would be paid to affected persons, while steps would also be taken to comprehensively unbundle and sanitise the entire Local Government payroll.
While expressing sympathy with 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 neither authorized nor approved nor issued through lawful recruitment processes.
“Government cannot assume responsibility for appointments that were never authorized, approved or issued through lawful recruitment process,” the statement said, adding that doing otherwise would amount to legitimising fraud, compromising due process and undermining the integrity of the public service.
Government appealed to affected persons and members of the public to remain calm and take advantage of the new window provided by the 4,000 fresh jobs, reaffirming its commitment to building a professional, transparent, efficient and people-centred public service.
By Kingsley Agim
