Cross River approves 4,000 jobs after cancelling ‘flawed recruitment’

File: Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River

The Cross River State Government has approved the recruitment of 4,000 fresh staff into the local government service following the cancellation of the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise, which was described as “fundamentally flawed” and riddled with job racketeering and commercialisation of employment slots.

The Chairman of the Local Government Service Commission, Eyo Ekpo, disclosed this while briefing journalists on Friday in Calabar, promising compensation for applicants who were shortchanged in the previous exercise.

He said the decision followed months of complaints and protests over alleged irregularities, skewed shortlisting and non-transparent processes in the last local government recruitment.

Ekpo said the fresh recruitment was approved to fill critical manpower gaps across the LGAs and restore public confidence in the Commission’s processes.

He said, “Workers affected by the cancellation of the recent local government recruitment exercise will be allowed to reapply once new recruitment portals open 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.”

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Ekpo admitted that the previous exercise was marred by irregularities, noting that some qualified applicants were unfairly excluded while others who did not meet the requirements were allegedly favoured.

“We acknowledge that mistakes were made in the last recruitment. As part of efforts to right the wrongs, this Commission will ensure that victims of the skewed exercise are properly compensated,” the commission chairman said.

He added that modalities for the compensation and the new recruitment would be made public in due course, promising that the process would be merit-based, transparent and in line with due process.

The chairman assured that the Commission would work with traditional rulers, community leaders and anti-graft agencies to guarantee credibility and fairness in the fresh recruitment.

He urged interested applicants to await the official advertisement and avoid patronising fraudsters who might claim to have “slots” for sale.