The out-going Governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, has insisted on implementing the N18,000 minimum wage for the workers in the state to the state workers before leaving office. He spoke in response to the warning by the Governor elect, Senator Abiola Ajimobi that he should not sign the implementation of the said wage.
Ajimobi said doing so would be tantamount to undermining the in-coming administration and it would be unfair now that the Governor was at the twilight of his tenure. Governor Akala, in a statement signed by his Special Adviserr on Public Communication, Prince Dotun Oyelade, regretted his inability to accede to the request under any circumstance, saying that the promise to pay the minimum wage, which he voluntarily made on Tuesday March 29, 2011, a clear 29 days before the gubernatorial election, had become a covenant between him and the workers.
The governor Akala took exception to the description of his action as suspicious and controversial adding that he gave the promise with a conviction that he would be the one to implement it. “What kind of leader will I be, if I have to acquiesce to reneging on a promise I made to my people?
I wish to leave behind a legacy of policy consistency”, he said. He disagreed with Ajimobi that it was morally wrong for him to initiate a project that he would not implement. Akala said, “ while it is morally and legally correct for him to effect minimum wage, governance is a continuum and its entity remains potent until the last admissible date.
In any case, the former Governor Lam Adesina sealed a whooping N1.8 billion contract for an International Market and Water Projects in the dying days of his Administration, while Senator Ladoja increased workers’ salaries and allowances a few days before his departure.The workers in Oyo State will enjoy minimum wage of N18,000 from May 1, 2011 and it is their right to reject the offer.
By Ola Ajayi
Culled from VANGUARD.
No comments:
Post a Comment