The governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki said yesterday that the depreciating value of the naira and the rising cost of living made the government to increase the salary of its civil servants from N40, 000 to N70, 000.
Obaseki disclosed this in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
Recall that prior to the increment, the state paid its workers N40, 000 paid as against the N30, 000 national minimum wage.
“Let us understand this new minimum wage calculation. In 2011, when the minimum wage was N18, 000, the exchange rate was N160/$ and so effectively workers in Edo State were taking home about $120 as minimum wage.
“When we increased the minimum wage to N40,000 in 2022, the exchange rate at that time was N450/$ so effectively, workers were getting about $96.”
“Today, 2024, with the N70,000 minimum wage at the current exchange rate of N1,257/$, what they are taking home is $55 which is less than 50 per cent of what they were earning about a year ago,” he said.
He said the state considered productivity, paying workers well so that they could produce more and not pretending that “you are paying them some salary when you know that that salary cannot motivate them to produce the goods and services that you require.”
He emphasized that the government had to introduce the new minimum wage for workers in Edo State to reflect the current economic realities of the country.
“We are taking measures as a state to mitigate the situation that we found ourselves in today,” he stressed.
He said with the digitisation of work in the state, government had been able to save money which will be channeled to other areas including the payment of wages.
“So, we don’t spend [so much] money on stationery and all those costs used to run the government,” he said.
Obaseki added that the state reduced the cost of energy by looking at alternative sources.
“Those savings, I use them to pay salaries,” he said.
