The Cross River State Local Government Service Commission has announced the recruitment of no fewer than 4,000 staff across the state’s 18 local government areas, marking the first mass employment exercise in nearly four decades.
Chairman of the commission, Mr. Darlington Eyo, disclosed this in Calabar on Tuesday during an interactive session with journalists.
He explained that the commission inherited a severely depleted workforce and had to urgently seek Governor Bassey Otu’s approval for recruitment.
“When we came on board, the councils were almost empty. We were supposed to meet about 12,000 or 13,000 staff, but what we met was around 3,000,” Eyo said. “The governor saw the need to fill the gaps, and that is how we began this recruitment exercise.”
According to him, the approval was granted under the governor’s People First Mantra, with the aim of not only strengthening local government administration but also providing sustainable livelihoods for citizens.
Eyo confirmed that over 3,000 of the new workers had already been placed on the state’s payroll, while further phases of the recruitment exercise were still in progress.
“We cannot fill 9,000 vacant spaces at once. Recruitment is ongoing, and we are approaching it systematically,” he added.
On allegations of job racketeering, the commission chairman dismissed the claims, insisting that the process was transparent.
“To the best of my knowledge, there is no such thing as buying employment in this exercise. We have made the process open so that even the son or daughter of nobody can be employed,” Eyo stated. “However, we cannot rule out the possibility of individuals outside the commission attempting to exploit the system. Such people will be exposed.”
He further revealed that an audit of the payroll uncovered 800 ghost workers, who have since been removed.
“We cannot continue to carry a bloated wage bill when the actual number of staff is low. The audit is ongoing, and we are committed to sanitising the system,” he explained.
Eyo also highlighted that beyond recruitment, the commission had embarked on training programmes for council staff to improve efficiency, praising Governor Otu for creating the enabling environment to implement reforms.
“This is the first time in 37 years that such a mass employment drive has been carried out in the state. It is a bold step towards rebuilding our local government service,” he concluded.
