Cross River panel says 47 applicants lost N51.8m to fake LG jobs

A Cross River investigative panel has found that 47 job applicants lost more than N51.8 million to people who allegedly promised them local government appointments.

Nsa Ekpo, chairperson of the Cross River State Local Government Service Commission, disclosed the findings while speaking with journalists in Calabar.

According to the verified reports, some applicants paid between N100,000 and N1.5 million after being led to believe the payments would secure jobs in the local government service. Some were also allegedly given documents presented as employment letters.

The panel was set up after complaints about the 2024/2025 local government recruitment exercise. It also found alleged attempts to insert relatives and people who did not meet the stated requirements into the recruitment process.

The findings fed into the cancellation of the exercise. The state government has ordered a fresh recruitment for 4,000 local government workers, while 821 candidates from the cancelled process are expected to be retained after being cleared.

Sources: Premium Times, Vanguard