Amosun the Ogun state gov. posts N200bn budget proposal for 2016

Pledges not to slash N18,000 minimum wage

Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, y e s t e r d a y distanced himself from state governors seeking the reduction of the N18,000 minimum wage to workers in the country. 

Amosun, who spoke during the presentation of the state’s 2016 Appropriation Bill before the House of Assembly in Abeokuta, the state capital, said he would rather support an increment of the workers’ pay. 

At the session presided over by the Speaker of the House, Suraj Adekunbi, the governor presented N200.27 billion budget proposal for the 2016 fiscal year.

The 36 state governors, under the umbrella of Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), while rising from a crucial meeting last week at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, had said they could no longer pay the N18,000 minimum wage owing to the poor state of the nation’s economy.

 Speaking on the governors’ behalf, the Chairman of NGF and Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari said the burden of the wage was lighter when oil was selling at the international market at $126 as against the current $41 per barrel.

But Amosun said yesterday that he would not be part of any move to reduce the current N18,000 minimum wage being paid to the workers, even as the governor recalled that at the inception of his administration in 2011, he ensured upward review of the workers’ salaries.

While insisting that the state approved N18,250 as minimum wage to its workers, he said: “I am not part of any move that says we cannot pay N18,000 minimum wage to our workers. And in any case, what we did when we came into office in August 2011, was that; I was probably the only governor that did not limit it to N18,000, but made it N18,250.”

The governor added: “If I did it then, the day we have enough money and we could generate adequate revenue, I will move mine to N20,000 or even N25,000. But for now, the N18,250 the state is paying, I will not subscribe to anyone or governor saying we should reduce it or that they cannot pay. I am not part of those that said that.

For me, we should continue to struggle to pay the minimum wage of N18,000.” Amosun said the 2016 Appropriation Bill, tagged: “Budget of Optimisation,” is about N10 billion or 4.79 per cent less than the current 2015 budget. According to him, the proposed budget comprises N99.29 billion (49.6 per cent) for capital expenditure and N100.98 billion (50.4per cent) for recurrent expenditure. The governor stated that the proposed budget would be funded from the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), Federation Account, external loans and grants