Oyo workers gulp N24 billion monthly - Makinde

 

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has put the wage bill of the state at N24 billion on monthly basis.

According to him, the figure is being paid as salaries for the workers on the payroll of both the state and local government.

Makinde, made the revelation while receiving a delegation of Muslim clerics, traditional rulers, and political office holders at his Ikolaba residence after the Eid-el-Fitri prayers at the Agodi Eid Ground in Ibadan, the Oyo State Capital.

The Governor explained that the breakdown of the total wage bill includes N14 billion for state government workers while their counterparts at the local government level gulped N10 billion.

He added that the amount being injected into the economy in the state through salaries is excluding those from the private sector.

"My administration has ensured economic stability in the state through the monthly payment of about N24 billion in salaries to state and local government workers.

"The government’s commitment to economic expansion had attracted private sector investments to the state.

“My prayer has always been that this state will never go back to those periods, because if we have patience, all the things we want will be achieved.

“One of those things we desire is economic stability in our state. Now, every four weeks, N24 billion gets into the economy of Oyo State through workers’ salaries. The wage bill of the state is now around N14 billion, while that of the local government is about N10 billion.

“Similarly, on the private sector side, a lot of people are now comfortable coming and investing in this state, and we have seen quite a lot of investments. Yesterday, we were at the Ijaiye Farm Settlement because of the Farmers’ Wholesale Market that is coming in there. I went there to inspect the place, and you will be surprised that in that settlement, we have 27,000 hectares of land. We have asked them to carve out just 3,000 hectares out of the 27,000 for that project.”

Makinde, however, asked the residents in the state to always embrace peace in order to create enabling environment for economy to further thrive beyond it's current level