By Correspondent .
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state.
(c) Business Day NG.
Oyo State government has responded to protest by its workforce by inviting the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for an exhaustive dialogue on the issue of salary protest cited by public workers on Monday.
Our correspondent gathered public workers in Ibadan the state capital,south west Nigeria, in their protest, called for an upward review of their salary and allowances of pensioners.
The workers who said their take home pay was not enough to take care of their transport , called on the government to pay them the deductions made from their salary, among other demands.
The Reporterr further gathered that the protesting workers had barricaded the main entrance to the State Secretariat, demanding Governor ‘Seyi Makinde to personally attend to them.
They were however, attended to by the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, who told the workers that the state owed them three months and not six months deductions .
The commissioner added that every state in the federation wood workers salary deductions , adding that the three months owed by Oyo State was the least.
He noted that while the Oyo State government started the implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage three years ago, many states were struggling to pay the old wage.
“While it is the right and entitlement of our workers to access their wages, especially at this tough time, government implores them to reflect on the sincerity of purpose of this administration.
“Despite the challenges of paying wages, over 2,000 civil servants have been promoted, while almost 1,000 others have been converted to regular service.
“For the records, Oyo State pays N7.3billio monthly as salaries, yet collects N5 billion from Federal Allocation.
“Because of this, all the N2.8billio n raked in as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) are ploughed back ,literally to service salaries,” the said n the statement.
Oyelade said government deserved a pat on the back, “if in spite of this tightrope, government still embarks on such magnitude of infrastructural projects,that even the NLC has applauded numerously.
“Our correspondent recalls that economic analysts,including the Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki ,have predicted that no state would be able to pay salaries by the end of June,2023.
“This is because of the worsening shape of the economy. But Oyo State, due to the deft husbanding of the state resources by Governor Seyi Makinde, has defied the doomsday prediction.
“This is why the state government is confident that the NLC will come to the negotiating table and together with the government chart a realistic path in balancing the welfare of the workers to which the government is obviously committed and the unpleasant economic indices that stare all of us in the face.”
Meanwhile, the Oyo State government has urged workers to resume at their duty-posts and “continue the good work they are known for.”
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