Makinde approves 13th-month salary for Oyo state workers

Governor Seyi Makinde has approved the payment of a 13th-month salary to Oyo State workers, marking the seventh consecutive year the gesture will be extended to the state’s workforce.

The governor also approved the payment of outstanding salaries and minimum wage arrears owed to staff of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso.

Makinde announced this on Monday while inaugurating the Governing Board of the Teaching Hospital at the Executive Chamber of the Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan. 

He assured that his administration would soon address the issues that led to the recent strike by LAUTECH lecturers.

The governor also tasked the newly inaugurated Governing Board with revamping the Oyo Annex of the Teaching Hospital within 12 months, pledging full support from the state government to make the facility fully operational.

“You have been selected or nominated on the basis of merit,” Makinde said. “The Chairman of the Governing Board, Professor Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, is an accomplished individual. He has been everywhere, and many organisations seek his expertise. So thank you, Prof, for agreeing to serve your state.”

“Prof has developed a roadmap, and he has asked me when can we sit down and agree on this so that he can start implementation. 

“Also, I have been trying to see Prof. Ayodeji Omole, Chairman of LAUTECH Governing Council, for a while now because I have been reading about the lecturers either going on strike or not going on strike. I haven’t really taken a deeper dive into what is going on in there. So, I hope that in the next one or two days we will be able to see what is going on. 

“When I came to LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, I made a promise about the issues around the minimum wage arrears, and all of that. And a lot of your people have been asking, ‘What’s the situation because we haven’t received the alert?’ Let me explain. I made that pronouncement, and I expected it to be implemented, but they came back and said, ‘Well, we have to follow due process.’ I am happy to report that just this morning, I signed the salary file for the December salary and the 13th-month salary. All those arrears were included.