TELL Magazine

For the second time in less than one year, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has raised the minimum wage in the state from the federal government approved ₦30, 000 to ₦70, 000. The governor made the announcement at the commissioning of the imposing newly built state-of-the-art Labour House secretariat complex for organised labour in the state, along Temboga Road, Ikpoba-Hill, Benin City. The Labour House is regarded as the most magnificent Labour secretariat in Nigeria.

Recall that the state government had on June 6, 2023, announced an increase in minimum wage payable to its workforce from ₦30,000 to ₦40,000 as a way of cushioning the effect of fuel subsidy removal announced by President Bola Tinubu on May 29.

In a statement, the governor said, “As a proactive government, we have since taken the step to increase the minimum wage paid to workers in Edo state from the approved ₦30,000 to ₦40,000, the highest in the country today”.

And on October 1, 2023, in his Independence Day anniversary broadcast, Governor Obaseki had hinted that his administration was reviewing the ₦40,000 minimum wage for workers in its employ.

According to him, “We have begun reviewing the minimum wage of our workers which is currently ₦40,000, (the highest in the country) with a view to increasing it as soon as the Federal Government revises the revenue allocation formula”.

Making good this promise when he commissioned the Labour House named after the immediate past governor of the state, and former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, a serving senator representing Edo North senatorial district, Obaseki said details of the minimum wage which will take effect from May 1, 2024, would be unveiled during the Workers’ Day celebration.

He also promised to increase the amount to over ₦70,000 if the Federal Government approved a new national minimum wage for its workers.