Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has assured workers in the state of paying the new minimum wage of N70,000.

Adeleke assured workers that he won’t default in the payment of the minimum wage because their welfare is his priority. The governor spoke through his Commissioner for Information, Kolapo Alimi in Osogbo, the state capital.

Adeleke said after the National Assembly might have passed the bill and finalised with every other thing on it, the state government would abide by the rule because “it has become a law”. He said: “Our governor is a lover of workers; his first agenda is to prioritise the welfare of workers both active and non-active.

“Governor Adeleke will not be among the defaulters of the new minimum wage. Osun State will never deviate from the law on minimum wage.”

Recall that President Bola Tinubu had approved the sum of N70,000 as new national minimum wage during a meeting with the organized labour. Labour had demanded for N250,000 but representatives of the Nigerian government opted for N60,000. However, the president approved N70,000 for workers during the week.

Similarly, Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State assured workers in the state of his administration’s readiness to pay N70,000 new minimum wage.

Alia gave the assurance while addressing journalists in Makurdi, the state capital. The governor said his administration has blocked all the leakages, hence can pay N70,000 minimum wage.

According to Alia: “Though with harsh economy things have been stagnated but with all the plans and measures that are in place for things to function, things are moving, even our internally generated Revenue has increased

“It’s now left for us to close all loopholes to see how much we can cash in to do other things, even to pay salary. “We can pay (minimum wage) with our focus. With all purpose and intent, what is agreed by the Federal Government, we the sub nationals should be able to queue in today.

“Without the workforce, any government will not have any centeredness of governance. So, we need to pay our civil servants with what is approved by the Federal Government and organised labour.”