Bribes, job racketeering force Otu’s govt to cancel 2024, 2025 employment exercises

Secretary to the Cross River State Government, Prof. Anthony Owan-Enoh, has announced that, as a result of large-scale financial inducements, job racketeering, commercialisation of employment slots, institutional complicity, ineptitude and breach of public service ethics, the government has cancelled the 2024 and 2025 employment exercises.

He declared the exercises fundamentally flawed and lacking in legitimacy.

The cancellation was contained in a release he signed yesterday, saying an inquiry revealed severe institutional lapses, including “high-scale and widespread job racketeering.”

However, he noted that only 821 personnel whose employments from the said exercises were duly approved by the governor would be recognised as legitimate and retained on the government payroll.

He explained that the number includes 83 personnel from the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC) who were originally recruited by the Civil Service Commission before being redeployed to the Local Government Service Commission.

He maintained that “all other individuals who joined the state payroll through unauthorised or illegal recruitment channels are being phased out immediately.

“Government deeply sympathises with every citizen who may have fallen victim to what has been described as a criminal enterprise.

“However, Government cannot assume responsibility for appointments that were never authorised, approved or issued through a lawful recruitment process. To do otherwise would amount to legitimising fraud, compromising due process and undermining the integrity of the public service,” he stressed.

Owan-Enoh further assured that all legitimate employees would continue to receive their salaries as and when due, while those eased out as a result of the nullification would receive compensatory benefits.

The Secretary to the government disclosed that further steps were also underway to achieve a comprehensive unbundling and sanitisation of the state’s entire payroll.

He disclosed further that the administration would conduct a fresh recruitment drive for 4,000 personnel in order to address the personnel shortage.

He assured that strict compliance and monitoring would be maintained during the recruitment exercise to check any complicity.

He also assured those affected by the cancellation who are qualified to reapply, disclosing that the perpetrators of the ill-fated exercise would be disciplined.

“The Attorney-General of Cross River State, alongside relevant law enforcement agencies, have been directed to launch an immediate investigation into the fraudulent exercise and prosecute all culpable individuals in accordance with the law,” he disclosed.