Oyo State ranks third among Nigerian states in paying the highest minimum wage, as revealed by the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Dotun Oyelade, in a statement issued in Ibadan, the state capital, on Monday.
While Lagos and Rivers States, with their abundant natural resources, pay a minimum wage of ₦85,000, Oyo State offers ₦80,000. This is notable given that the Federal Government recently set the minimum wage at ₦70,000.
Oyelade pointed out that although four other states—Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Enugu, and Niger—also pay ₦80,000, none has a workforce as large as Oyo’s.
“Oyo ranks third among states paying the highest minimum wage in Nigeria. Even without the ₦80,000 minimum wage, the state spends over ₦77 billion yearly on workers’ salaries, subventions, and wage awards,” Oyelade noted.
He provided a breakdown of the state’s October expenditure on salaries and wages: political office holders – ₦124,369,753.88; wage award – ₦1,311,780,000.00; subventions – ₦1,782,204,518.72; and civil servants’ salaries – ₦3,198,742,396.75, totalling ₦6,417,096,669.35.
Since 2019, workers in Oyo State have benefited from various welfare packages under Governor Makinde’s administration. The state has also reduced unemployment by hiring over 23,000 new workers, including teachers, non-teaching staff, health workers, and mainstream civil servants.
Oyelade also referenced the National Bureau of Statistics’ claim that Oyo State is the most worker-friendly state in Southern Nigeria, noting 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.
“Additionally, workers have enjoyed their 13th-month salary every December since 2019, and December 2024 will be no exception,” he emphasized.
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