The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki has approved the upward review of the State workers’ minimum wage from N30,000 to N40,000 in commemoration of the 2022 Workers’ Day.
Obaseki made the announcement on Sunday in Benin while delivering his 2022 Workers’ Day speech at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.
Obaseki, who stated that his government was the first to take this initiative after the COVID-19 pandemic, said, “As we all know, the minimum of N30,000 can barely sustain a family. It will be immoral and mindless of us to continue to pretend that we do not know that our workers are suffering.”
“The government of Edo has now decided to review the minimum (wage) for Edo workers from N30,000 to N40,000 a month. Undoubtedly, Edo is the first State since the current outbreak of coronavirus to take this initiative.
Obaseki, who said his government would have loved to pay more, noted that, “we hope that this little adjustment would enable us to cushion the impact of the inflation that we are faced with. There is no doubt that the financial implications will be heavy and put another burden on the government.
“But as a government, we are prepared to make the sacrifices so that the workers can live a better life. Your welfare is our number one priority.”
The governor reiterated the minimum wage review in a series of tweets on his Twitter page, @GovernorObaseki.
He tweeted, “I announced that we have reviewed the minimum wage for Edo workers from N30,000 to N40,000 a month. Although we would have loved to pay more, we hope that this little adjustment will enable us to cushion the impact of the inflation that we are faced with.
“To our workers; your welfare is our number one priority. As a government, we are prepared to make the sacrifices, so that our workers can live a better life. Happy Workers’ Day.”
Meanwhile, some pensioners in the State who retired in 2012 stormed the venue of the event protesting the non-payment of their gratuities.
The pensioners, who wore black attires and carried placards, appealed to Obaseki to rescue them by paying their gratuities.
One of them, Irene Aiguobarueghian, said since their retirement, they were only being paid their monthly pay but yet to get their gratuities.
She said, “We have come here to beg the governor to pay us our gratuity. Since 2012, he has collected our money and he has not paid us. He has not said anything about our gratuity, we are begging him to pay us. We have been receiving monthly pay but he has not said anything about our gratuity.”
Speaking on the hardship experienced by pensioners and other senior citizens in the state owing to the inflation rate in the country, Obaseki said, “I am particularly interested in our senior citizens because they are one of the most vulnerable in our society. We took interest in payments of outstanding pensions to our pensioners although these pensions were held by the previous administration.
“In view of the prevailing economic circumstances, I have now approved, effective this May, the agreement we reached with the Union of Pensioners that the harmonised amount would be paid from May 2022.
“Government is aware of the difficulties faced by the pensioners due to the non-payment of pension and gratuities to pensioners by previous governments. This responsibility is huge, and it will require a substantial part of our resources to settle them.
“However, we are not a government that is known for running away from challenges; we will look for a way to tackle these challenges.”
The governor added, “We are not a government that runs away from responsibilities. We will look for a way out to clear all the gratuities. We have cleared all the pension arrears and we will now focus on all the adjustments. I have directed that all the harmonised amounts we have agreed upon, we will begin payment this month.
“The purchasing power of an average worker continues to decrease. I want to appeal to the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on food security; if this is not done, we cannot predict what will happen next.
“For optimum performance of our workers, we have resolved to do an upward review of the salary of workers of Edo State. The minimum wage will now be N40,000 per month as against the previous payment of N30,000.”