Protest: Oyo Government Calls For Dialogue

Following the peaceful protest by labour unions yesterday, Oyo State Government has appealed to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to discuss the issue of salary deductions exhaustively, before embarking on any form of protest.

The state’s commissioner of information and orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade explained that only three months and not six months deductions were owed workers.

He added that every state in the federation owes workers salary deductions, saying the three months owed by the Oyo State was the least.

According to him, the NLC had shown over the years that they are in support of the present administration because of good governance, but asked them to reflect on the disposition of government to workers’ welfare.

While the July salaries have been paid in Oyo State, he said not less than 20 states including Ondo, Plateau, Benue and Bayelsa are owing several months of salaries in arrears, while several more including neighboring states were owing months of deduction arrears.

‘’We started the implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage three years ago, yet up till now many states are still struggling to pay the old wage.

“While it is the right and entitlement of our workers to access their wages, especially at this tough time, the government implores them to reflect on the sincerity of purpose of this administration”, Oyelade said.

He said despite the challenges of paying wages, over 2,000 civil servants have been promoted, while almost 1,000 others have been converted to regular service.’’