No fewer than 47 applicants have allegedly been defrauded of over N51.8 million in the cancelled 2024/2025 local government recruitment exercise in Cross River State.
The Chairman of the Cross River State Local Government Service Commission, Barr. Eyo Nsa Ekpo, disclosed on Monday during an early morning program, Let’s Talk Nigeria, on Sparkling FM.
Ekpo stated that the victims were cajoled, frightened, and intimidated into parting with amounts ranging from N100,000 to N1.5 million in exchange for local government employment. According to him, some of those who applied for senior positions paid as much as N1.3 million and N1.5 million to secure the ill-fated appointments.
He explained that the revelation followed investigations by a panel constituted by the state government after complaints and public uproar trailed the recruitment exercise.
“The panel found out that as many as 47 victims were cajoled, frightened, and intimidated to part with over N51.8 million for fake local government jobs,” Ekpo said.
He further disclosed that the perpetrators issued fake employment letters to applicants to give them a false impression that they had secured government jobs.
Furthermore, some of the alleged perpetrators manipulated the process to accommodate family members, including individuals who were not resident in Cross River State.
“Many of these victims came to open up and submitted evidence which the panel verified. We had guaranteed all whistleblowers security and confidentiality if they came up with evidence,” he added.
Ekpo assured that the state government is currently identifying those involved in the fraud for questioning, prosecution, and appropriate sanctions.
Following the investigation and recommendations of the panel, the state government recently cancelled the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise.
However, Ekpo noted that 821 people from the earlier exercise would be retained, while other qualified applicants will be allowed to participate in a fresh recruitment exercise expected to commence in two weeks.
He assured applicants that the upcoming process would follow standard procedures, remain entirely transparent, and would not be commercialized.
The list of successful candidates from the fresh recruitment, alongside the 821 retained workers, will be published openly to ensure transparency.
