Why I Increased Minimum Wage Of Edo Civil Workforce To N70,000 — Obaseki

Godwin Obaseki

Godwin Obaseki, the governor of Edo State, has explained why the state's minimum salary for labourers was raised from N40,000 to N70,000.

Godwin Obaseki highlighted several reasons for the shift, including the recent depreciation of the value of the currency rate, the state of the economy, the rise in food costs, inflation, and the need to increase productivity.

Speaking on the subject on Monday, April 29, the governor underlined the choice to raise the standard of living for public employees while expressing sympathy for them.

While he acknowledged that he had little influence over the current state of the national economy, he emphasized his commitment to easing workers' hardship.

In support of the increase, Obaseki stated, “The government and governance are about our people. You cannot claim to be doing well as a government if your people are in penury and unhappy.

“In 2011, when minimum wage was 18,000, the exchange rate was N150 per dollar. So, by calculations, workers in Edo State were taking home $120 home monthly. When we increased the minimum wage to N40,000 in 2022, the exchange rate at that time was N415. So, workers were getting about $96, which was a discount on what they were earning in 2011.

“Even as of today, with the N70,000 minimum wage, the current exchange rate with over N1,000 pegged their take home at $55 which is less than what they were earning two years ago.

“For us in Edo State, we believe that the issue is about productivity. Paying people well so that they can produce more. Not pretending that you are paying them a salary when you know that it can not motivate them to produce more.

“We are never a flippant state; we look at our numbers carefully, and because we understood that this was going to happen, we took measures to mitigate the situations we found ourselves in today. So, we undertook fundamental reforms in our public services. Cutting our IPP so I don't buy diesel at the rate people are buying diesel to run power in the state and government facilities. We moved our operations to a digital platform. So we don't spend money on stationery and other costs that we will use to run the governance.

“By the time we harness all our savings, we will have a lot of money to pay the workers,” he added.

Speaking about potential increases in overhead, pensions, and gratuities in the 2024 budget, the governor of Edo emphasized that he would be bringing the amended budget before the state assembly in order to account for the recent development.

He said, “My overhead budget this year is about N89 billion, whereas my personal costs are about N65 billion. So I want to move more money from overhead to paying more salaries to the people and the taxes generated from the state.”

“If the Federal Government imposes something higher, we would look at what at the economic realities in the state and make the necessary adjustments,” he continued, reiterating that the new development will be supported because the funding was in the budget.

The newly constructed, ultra-modern Labour House headquarters facility for labor unions in Benin City, the state capital, was officially opened on Monday, April 29, with Obaseki declaring that workers will now start to earn N70,000.