Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State has lifted the 25-year embargo on employment in the state’s civil service.

The Commissioner for Information, Dr Erasmus Ekpang, announced this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Calabar on Wednesday.

Noting that the last mass employment in the service occurred in 1999, Ekpang said 2,000 people would be recruited in the first phase.

He said the recruitment exercise, which will commence immediately, will be carried out across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.

“The immediate past administration attempted to employ, but when the present government took office, many flaws were discovered in that exercise.

“As we speak, the state civil service is almost depleted, and we are indeed happy that the governor has deemed it necessary to recruit at this point,” he stated.

When asked if the state will pay the N70,000 minimum wage, the commissioner said: “That will be considered at the appropriate time.”

In another development, Otu has commended the people of the state for not participating in the nationwide “Hunger Protest” which began on 1 August.

He specifically commended the youth for choosing to maintain peace in the state.