In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, with the payment of ₦80,000 minimum wage from 1st of January, 2025, Government will pay workers ₦11.9 billion monthly instead of the current ₦6.4 billion.
The commissioner said this when he received the Oyo State Chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Kayode Martins, in his office on Tuesday.
Prince Oyelade said that Governor Seyi Makinde is determined to cater for the welfare of workers while not compromising the welfare of the generality of the people and the critical sectors.
Responding, the Oyo State NLC Chairman said that the ₦80,000 minimum wage and its consequential adjustments in Oyo State is more favourable to workers across all grade levels when compared with other States including the federal government.
Comrade Martins said that Governor Seyi Makinde, whom he referred to as “Workers’ Governor,” has been consistent in his love for workers.
Oyo was the first State to implement the old ₦30,000 minimum wage and also started negotiating a new minimum wage with labour leaders even before the Federal Government approved the ₦70,000 minimum wage.
According to the labour leader, while the Federal Government added ₦40,000 across board for its workers as consequential adjustments and Ogun State added ₦42,000 across board on its consequential adjustments to the new minimum wage, Oyo which has the largest number of workers in the Southwest and just concluded the process of recruiting 23,000 more workers to the State workforce, has done more for its workers.
He said the present Oyo State table sees the movement of workers on Grade levels 1 to 6 from ₦30,000 to ₦80,000, translating to a ₦50,000 increment on the salary scale.
He said level 7 and above now enjoy increments of ₦70,000, ₦80,000, ₦90,000 and even over ₦180,000 being added to workers salaries on the consequential adjustment table.
The graphic implication of this for instance, is that Government worker on Grade Level 17 earning ₦170,000 per month will now earn ₦360,000.
He noted that no State in Nigeria has done this.
Further into the discussion, the Commissioner for Information said that with the monthly increment of 86% in salaries and wages for Oyo workers from ₦6.4 billion to ₦11.9 billion, Oyo State Government is now committed to the payment of over ₦143 billion on salaries and wages annually.
Prince Oyelade said Governor Makinde is giving more to workers in the State beyond expectation and what any other administration has ever done.
He said Governor Makinde proactively announced a four year promotion of workers in order to avert the promotion crisis that had been on the ground before he came into office in 2019.
Rounding off the visit, the NLC Chairman, Comrade Kayode Martins said the motivation civil and public servants receive in the prompt payment of salaries on the 25th of every month is unquantifiable in boosting the morale of workers and the State economy.
Comrade Martins said that the cordial relationship between Governor Seyi Makinde and the Labour Unions was evident in the last industrial action embarked upon by the national body of the labour unions on the 2nd of December, 2024, where Oyo State was exempted due to the cordial relationship being enjoyed in the State.
