The Cross River State Government has cancelled the 2024/2025 local government recruitment exercise and approved the employment of 4,000 new workers following findings of irregularities, job racketeering and lack of due approval.

The government described the cancelled exercise as “fundamentally flawed,” saying it breached public service ethics, extant laws and financial regulations.

The decision followed the submission and consideration of the report of a panel set up to investigate the recruitment exercise conducted by the defunct Local Government Commission.

In a statement issued on Thursday, made available to Newsmen today, Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Anthony Owan-Enoh, said the panel uncovered institutional complicity, ineptitude, lack of transparency and accountability in the exercise.

He said the entire recruitment had been invalidated, except for 83 CROSIEC personnel earlier employed by the Cross River State Civil Service Commission and redesignated to the Local Government Service Commission.

According to him, only 821 personnel whose recruitment was duly approved by the governor would be retained on the government payroll, while others recruited through unauthorised processes would be phased out.

Speaking on Friday during a radio programme monitored by our correspondent, Chairman of the Local Government Service Commission, Eyo Ekpo, said affected workers would be allowed to reapply when the new recruitment portal opens.

Ekpo said the portal was expected to open within the next two to three weeks, adding that those affected by the cancellation were not barred from participating in the fresh exercise.

“Nothing precludes those who have been laid off by this unfortunate but very, very necessary decision from reapplying,” he said.

The chairman also disclosed that the government was working out modalities for compensating victims of the cancelled exercise.

“The issue of what will be seen as compensatory is still being worked out,” Ekpo said.

He assured qualified indigenes and other eligible applicants of a transparent process, saying the fresh exercise would use digital platforms and modern recruitment procedures to determine staffing needs.

The government also directed the state Attorney-General and relevant law enforcement agencies to investigate the circumstances surrounding the recruitment and prosecute persons found culpable.

It said legitimate employees lawfully recruited with the required approval had continued to receive their salaries, while plans were underway to comprehensively sanitise the local government payroll.

Government urged affected persons to remain calm and take advantage of the fresh recruitment opportunity, reiterating its commitment to a transparent, efficient and professional local government service.