- ”How Obaseki’s N70,000 Minimum Wage Is A Greek Gift To Woo Edo People” —APC’s Monday Okpebholo
- ”APC and Monday Okpebholo are are worried About The Giant Strides Of Obaseki”-PDP
By Abiola Olawale
The recent implementation of a N70,000 minimum wage for civil service workers in Edo state has caused a point of contention between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
This is as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo (APC, Edo Central) has described the recent increment of the state workers’ minimum wage to N70,000 as a Greek gift.
Okpebholo accused Governor Godwin Obaseki of trying to woo the people of Edo State into voting for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming election.
According to him, the minimum wage announcement by Obaseki was a deliberate plot to distract the Edo people from the real issues and accused the state government of owing Edo civil servants six months arrears.
This is contained in Okpebholo’s Media Office’s statement in Abuja, which reads: “Governor Obaseki is owing Edo civil servants arrears of six months….
“Other states did the same thing and distributed palliatives. In Edo State, Governor Obaseki has been mute. No civil servant got any extra money like their counterparts in other states.
“Nobody in Edo State has gotten any palliatives or cash transfers from the Edo State Government. What has Obaseki spent the money on?
“We know that the State Government is keeping billions of naira to buy votes and prosecute the governorship election, where he intends to impose his political stooge on Edo people. Unfortunately for him, the people are wiser, especially the civil servants in the state.
The New Diplomat recalls that Obaseki had increased the minimum wage of workers in the state civil service from N40,000 to N70,000.
The governor declared that the new minimum wage would take effect on Workers’ Day, May 1, 2024.
Obaseki made this announcement on Monday, April 29, during the commissioning of the Labour House, built for organised labour in the state.
However, the Edo State Government has said that the APC and its candidate cannot appreciate the long-term impact of Governor Obaseki’s projects because they thrive on subversive politics.
In a statement, The Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, said it was regrettable that the APC would find the increment of wages, the commissioning of the new Labour House and the construction of Temboga road as distasteful.
He said: “It is curious to learn that the All Progressives Congress finds the building of a Labour House and the construction of an access road in the Temboga area in bad taste just because they want to play politics.
“But we are not surprised by their lack of understanding because they have always been used to subversive politics that have never placed the people at the centre of development.
In their reasoning, projects should only be constructed for the benefit of a few people, and not for the generality of the people.
“If they had paid close attention, they would know that the Labour House project was ongoing for well over two years and was not hurriedly constructed as they are wont to do when they want to deceive unsuspecting members of the public. The term ‘Greek Gift’ which they bandied about carelessly is their go-to model and we are not sorry that the import of the project is lost on them.”
