Oyo Tackles Minister Over Alleged Non-payment Of Workers’ Salaries, Pensions

Federal and Oyo State governments have continued to trade words over workers’ welfare in terms of payment of salary, pension arrears and gratuities.

The minister of information and orientation, Mohammed Idris, had said that Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) governors have defaulted in the payment of “workers’ salaries, pension arrears” and “gratuities to their retired workers”.

But in a swift reaction, the state’s commissioner information and orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, stated that the federal government was not correct.

The Oyo State government took exception to the sweeping generalization against the PDP by the federal government.

In a direct response to the statement credited to the minister of information and orientation, his Oyo state counterpart, Oyelade, said that in specific and general terms that the minister was wrong.

The minister had also said in a statement earlier in Abuja that farmers were not being catered for in the states in reference.

But Oyelade said the statement attributed to the minister was dead on arrival and flies in the face of verifiable facts from Oyo state.

According to him, the Seyi Makinde administration is taking care of its workforce more than any other state in the federation.

“The solidarity remarks of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Oyo State branch leadership apart, the state pays its worker’s salaries every 25th of the month for the past 57 months, has been paying the 30,000 naira minimum wage from inception almost four years ago, including consistent payment of pensions and gratuities which by the way includes 13th month payment for both workers and pensioners alike and started paying the federal government induced wage award since September 2023 even when the FG is still defaulting.

“On the false allegation that farmers are not treated well, this can only be put down to the inaccessibility of facts to the Honourable Minister.

“The state’s strategic intervention in agro-allied road networks that has successfully linked all the seven zones in the state, the largest increase in land cultivation and production in the past four years, successful encouragement of viable foreign and local investors through the agribusiness template at the resuscitated Fashola Industrial Estate among others are proof of government’s laudable intent.’’