Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Oyo State: Akala insists on paying N18,000 minimum wage

The out-going Governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, has insisted on implementing the N18,000 minimum wage for the workers in the state before leaving office.

He spoke in response to the warning by the Governor-elect, Senator Abiola Ajimobi that he should not sign the implementation of the said wage.

Ajimobi said doing so would be tantamount to undermining the in-coming administration and it would be unfair now that Governor Akala was at the twilight of his tenure.
Governor Akala, in a statement by his Special Adviserr on Public Communication, Prince Dotun Oyelade, regretted his inability to accede to the  governor-elect request under any circumstance, saying that promise to pay the minimum wage, which he voluntarily made on Tuesday, March 29, 2011, a clear 29 days before the gubernatorial election, had become a covenant between him and the workers.

Governor Akala took exception to the description of his action as suspicious and controversial, adding that he gave the promise with a conviction that he would be the one to implement it.

“What kind of leader will I be, if I have to acquiesce to reneging on a promise I made to my people? I wish to leave behind a legacy of policy consistency”, he said.

He disagreed with Ajimobi that it was morally wrong for him to initiate a project that he would not implement.

Akala said, “ while it is morally and legally correct for him to effect minimum wage, governance is a continuum and its entity remains potent until the last admissible date.In any case, the former Governor Lam Adesina sealed a whooping N1.8 billion contract for an International Market and Water Projects in the dying days of his Administration, while Senator Ladoja increased workers’ salaries and allowances a few days before his departure.

The workers in Oyo State will enjoy minimum wage of N18,000 from May 1, 2011 and it is their right to reject the offer.
Vanguard

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