CALABAR, Nigeria — Cross River State Governor Bassey Otu has ordered the immediate cancellation of thousands of unauthorised appointments into the local government service made by the state’s former Local Government Service Commission.
In a statement issued on September 9, 2026, Cross River State Secretary to the State Government Anthony Owan Enoh announced the decision following the review of an inquiry panel’s report into the hiring exercise. Okay News reports that Bassey Otu directed the complete invalidation of the recruitment process conducted between 2024 and 2025 due to systemic regulatory violations and job racketeering.
“Following the submission of the Report of the Panel of Inquiry into the Recent Local Government Recruitment Exercise and having carefully considered the issues raised, investigations conducted and recommendations made by the Panel, the Cross River State Government has taken the following decisions: The recruitment carried out by the defunct Local Government Service Commission between 2024/2025 was fundamentally flawed; lacking in legitimacy and fraught with absence of executive approvals, high-scale and widespread job racketeering, commercialisation of employment slots, institutional complicity, ineptitude and breach of public service ethics. The entire exercise therefore in the face of non-transparency, absence of accountability and non-compliance with extant laws and financial regulations, remains invalidated and cancelled,” the statement said.
Under the new directive, only 83 personnel originally appointed for the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission by the Civil Service Commission and later redesignated to the local government service will remain on the state payroll. All other individuals recruited by the defunct commission will be removed.
The state government has approved a fresh recruitment exercise to hire 4,000 personnel through digital platforms based on verified staffing requirements.
“Meanwhile, government has graciously approved the recruitment of 4,000 personnel through a fresh and transparent recruitment exercise. The new process will deploy digital platforms and modern procedures to determine staffing needs and ensure that recruitment is based on established requirements,” the statement said.
Affected individuals with valid qualifications have been advised to reapply during the new process, while those removed from the payroll as a result of the cancellation will receive compensatory benefits.
“Finally, the Attorney General of the State and relevant law enforcement agencies to immediately commence investigation into circumstances surrounding the ill-fated recruitment exercise and prosecute persons found culpable in accordance with the law,” the statement concluded.
