Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state says he has constituted a committee to oversee the negotiation and implementation of the new minimum wage in the state.
Makinde said that civil servants and the government were going to be reasonable on the all-important matter, as he emphasised that his government is on the same page with civil servants on the new N30,000 minimum wage for workers.
Makinde made these disclosures during the quarterly live interview programme, Meet the Governor, on the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS).
He reminded the people of a number of noticeable achievements and deliverables recorded by his administration within the last 200 days and explained that his administration was able to deliver so far due to prudent management of resources.
He also explained that he and members of his administration have been making sacrifices, as according to him, service to the people has been of uppermost concern.
Makinde stated that his government has never kept the organised Labour in the state and all stakeholders in dark over the resources accruing to the state, adding that though the state was already aware of the cost implications of the new minimum wage, the government and the civil servants would be reasonable because they were heading in the same direction of delivering good governance and development to Oyo State.
He said, “On the minimum wage issue, yesterday [Friday], we set up a committee that will engage with the Nigeria Labour Congress. The truth is, if we don’t deceive ourselves, everyone will be reasonable. NLC too knows that we are open with the amount of money we are getting as federal allocation. That is why we are in harmony.
“I have told them that we are going to get the matter resolved and they keyed into that because of the sincerity of purpose and transparency, they have found in this government. In fact, we know the cost-implication of the new minimum wage and the formula the Federal Government brought out on it.
“If we adopt it without negotiating, we know the amount that will still be needed to meet up. And we also put it on the table to them to analyse if Oyo State really can meet up with the amount that will be needed aside undertaking some other development projects in the state.
“One thing I can promise the people is, this is a new government, a new dawn and there is a new thinking between government and all other stakeholders, because we are all pulling in one single direction, which is delivering good governance and development agenda.”
Makinde stated that the reason his administration has been able to pay workers salaries, pensions and gratuities as and when due as well as record some other key deliverables across the four key pillars of his administration was due to the prudent management of resources and the personal sacrifices of all political office holders in the state.
He explained that among the various measures employed by the administration to effectively manage resources in order to have funds for developmental projects, he and other functionaries in the government had been using their private vehicles in the last six months, noting that this step has saved the state up to N3 billion to N4 billion, which could have been expended on vehicles.
He explained further that his administration has put an end to the era of frivolous approvals, while also giving clear-cut priorities to projects and programmes that can be embarked upon in the interest of Oyo State people.
Makinde maintained that the new thinking and approach, apart from freeing up funds for the development has also contributed to raising the interest of the private sector in partnering with the government to develop the state.
He said that one of the benefits the state has derived from his style of administration was the fact that the beautification efforts on major roundabouts in Ibadan with Christmas Lighting Systems around Ibadan, the state capital was done by the private sector at no cost to the state.
