At least 47 applicants lost more than N51.8 million after allegedly paying for fake appointments into the Cross River State Local Government Service, an investigative panel has found.
The victims reportedly paid between N100,000 and N1.5 million to individuals who claimed they could secure positions for them, according to the Chairman of the Cross River State Local Government Service Commission, Nsa Ekpo.
Ekpo disclosed the findings on Monday while speaking with journalists in Calabar, saying some applicants were also allegedly issued fake employment letters to convince them that their appointments had been secured.
He said those seeking senior positions reportedly paid the highest amounts, with some parting with N1.3 million and N1.5 million.
“The panel found 47 victims who were deceived into paying over N51.8 million for fake local government jobs,” Ekpo said.
The investigation also uncovered alleged attempts to manipulate the recruitment process by inserting relatives and other individuals who did not meet the required qualifications.
According to Ekpo, the probe followed complaints from members of the public about the 2024/2025 local government recruitment exercise, prompting the state government to constitute the investigative panel.
He said evidence supplied by whistleblowers was instrumental to the investigation, adding that their identities were protected during the process.
“Several victims came forward with evidence, which the panel verified,” he said.
Ekpo said the government was working to identify individuals allegedly involved in the irregularities, with those found culpable liable to questioning, prosecution or other lawful sanctions.
The revelations led to the cancellation of the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise.
However, Ekpo said 821 candidates from the annulled exercise had been cleared and would be retained, while other qualified applicants would have an opportunity to participate in a fresh process.
The new recruitment exercise, expected to begin within two weeks, will seek to fill 4,000 positions across the state’s local government service.
Ekpo assured applicants that the process would be conducted transparently and without payment or other forms of commercialisation.
He said the final list of successful candidates, including the 821 retained applicants, would be made public.
The commission’s position means prospective applicants are expected to rely only on official recruitment channels, as the government moves to prevent a repeat of the alleged fraud that affected dozens of candidates and prompted the cancellation of the previous exercise.
