Oyo State ranks third among Nigerian states paying the highest minimum wage, according to the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Dotun Oyelade.
He disclosed this in a statement issued in Ibadan, the state capital, on Monday.
He revealed that while Lagos and Rivers States, with their abundant natural resources, pay N85,000 as a minimum wage, Oyo State will pay N80,000.
It should be noted that the Federal Government recently approved a minimum wage of N70,000.
The commissioner explained that although four other states—Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Enugu, and Niger—match Oyo State in paying N80,000 as a minimum wage, none of them has a workforce as large as Oyo’s.
Oyelade highlighted this as evidence of the high priority Governor Seyi Makinde places on the welfare of state workers.
He stated: “Oyo ranks third among states paying the highest minimum wage in Nigeria. Even without the N80,000 minimum wage, the state spends over N77 billion yearly on workers’ salaries, subventions, and wage awards.
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“A breakdown of the state’s October expenditure on salaries and wages is as follows: political office holders – N124,369,753.88; wage award – N1,311,780,000.00; subventions – N1,782,204,518.72; and civil servants’ salaries – N3,198,742,396.75, totalling N6,417,096,669.35.”
The commissioner emphasised that workers in the state have benefited from a range of welfare packages under Governor Makinde’s administration since 2019.
He further noted that the administration has reduced unemployment by employing over 23,000 new workers, including teachers, non-teaching staff, health workers, and mainstream civil servants.
Oyelade backed the National Bureau of Statistics’ assertion that Oyo State is the most worker-friendly state in Southern Nigeria, citing the record number of new recruitments into the civil service.
“With this wave of recruitment, the state now ranks as one of the top three employers of labour after the Federal Government.
“Workers and pensioners have continued to receive salaries on or before the 25th of every month for 66 consecutive months without interruption.
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“Additionally, workers have enjoyed their 13th-month salary every December since 2019, and December 2024 will be no exception,” he stressed.
