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Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has increased the minimum wage for the state’s workers from ₦30,000 to ₦40,000 due to the rising cost of living.
Obaseki announced the development in a statement on Tuesday, June 6, 2023.
In the wake of fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government, food and fuel prices have increased astronomically across the country.
But in a bid to cushion the effect of the policy on Edo workers, the state government in a statement signed by the governor promised to further increase the workers’ wage “if more allocation accrues to our State from the Federal Government in view of the expected savings occasioned by the removal of the fuel subsidy.
The statement reads in part, “The Edo State Government shares the pains of our people and wants to assure everyone that we are standing with them in these very challenging times.
“We want to reassure our people that we will do all within our powers as a sub-national government to reduce the pains and ameliorate the sufferings our people are currently facing due to the current realities.
“As a proactive government, we have since taken the step to increase the minimum wage paid to workers in Edo State from the approved N30,000 to N40,000, the highest in the country today."
Obaseki also reduced the number of work days for civil servants to three days saying his government is aware of the hardship the removal of fuel subsidy has caused.
“The governor the policy has radically increased the cost of transportation, eating deep into the wages of workers in the State. Therefore, the Edo State Government is hereby reducing the number of work days that civil and public servants will have to commute to their workplaces from five days a week to three days a week till further notice. Workers will now work from home two days every week”, he said.
In addition, to lower the cost of energy, the governor promised to work with electricity companies in the state to improve power supply to homes and businesses.