Two days before the end of 2024, Governor Seyi Makinde kept to his promise to pay the famous 13th month salary.
The alert crept into the phones of joyous Oyo State workers on the evening of Monday, 30 December.
In a statement on Tuesday by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, this is in spite of the cumulative payment of ₦77 billion which the government spends yearly for salaries and wages of Oyo state workers.
“Only two weeks ago, Governor Makinde approved the payment of ₦80,000 minimum wage for Government workers after the issue of the consequential adjustment had been resolved by the negotiating council.
“From 1 January 2025, a total sum of ₦143 billion on salaries and wages annually will now be paid by the government in keeping with the approval of the new minimum wage. This represents a whopping 86% increase in salaries and wages,” Oyelade said.
According to him, this puts Oyo State as having one of the three highest workers’ packages in the whole of the federation.
He noted that Oyo state has the highest population of government workers in the South West.
Recall that in December 2023, Makinde also pledged to disburse the 13th-month salary to civil servants in the state ahead of the New Year.
The governor made the pledge during the 2023 Christmas Carol Service with the theme “Unto Us a Child is Born” held at the Remembrance Arcade, Government House, Agodi, Ibadan.
“Consistent with our practice since 2019, I want to assure the civil servants in Oyo State that, once again, we will be
