The Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde approved a new minimum wage of N80,000 for its workforce on Wednesday.
According to a statement from the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Dotun Oyelade, in Ibadan, the state capital, it was revealed that a technical committee established by the government had made this recommendation, which was subsequently approved by Governor Seyi Makinde for implementation of the new salary scale.
Oyelade noted that the new wage will take effect once the committee, comprising both government officials and labor representatives, completes the process of consequential adjustments.
He stated that just last month, the National Bureau of Statistics rated Oyo State as the most worker-friendly state in Southern Nigeria in its latest employment statistics for 2024.
This designation comes as a result of a significant drop in the unemployment rate, attributed to an aggressive hiring campaign across various sectors in the state.
“The Oyo State government has consistently paid its workers on the 25th of each month since Governor Makinde took office in 2019,” he added. “The governor has also implemented the previous N30,000 minimum wage since the beginning of his term, maintaining regular payments of pensions, gratuities, and a 13th-month salary for both workers and pensioners.”
Since November 2023, Governor Makinde has provided an additional welfare wage award of N25,000 for workers and N15,000 for pensioners to help alleviate the impact of the Federal Government’s fuel subsidy removal. This supplement has been reliably disbursed for over a year.
Oyelade also emphasized that Governor Makinde has settled the backlog of gratuities owed to pensioners from 2008 to 2015.
There has been an increase in gratuity payments for both Local Government Staff and those under the Ministry of Establishment and Training.
Furthermore, the governor has reinstated pensioners who were unjustly removed from the payroll by the former administration and continues to provide an annual Christmas/New Year chicken bonus for all pensioners.
