Edo state promises to pay workers despite N1.4bn allocation shortfall

Workers in Edo state have been assured of getting their salaries despite a shortfall of N1.4 billion from the federation account this month.
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State disclosed that his government got only N1.6 billion from the Federation Account this month, a shortfall of N1.4 billion to meet salaries and overheads, but that it won’t stop the government from meeting its wage obligation before the end of the month.
Oshiomhole, who restated his commitment to the prompt payment of workers’ salaries during a visit of the newly elected leadership of Trade Union Congress, TUC, said: “The labour movement remains my primary constituency. Politics is my secondary constituency, and I am never ashamed to say that the style that I adopt and the strategy that I use are the result of my trade union training and all that the union equipped me with.
“So, our movement gives us all that we need to prepare for leadership. I congratulate you on your election. I also want to congratulate your immediate predecessor for the leadership he provided for the TUC.
“Things are tough. This month, Edo State Government received from the Federation Account N1.6 billion. I will need about N3 billion to pay wages, overheads and other basic things that are not negotiable, which means we have a deficit of about N1.4 billion. But we will pay the workers before the 30th. Before May Day, they must get their salaries.
“It is a lot easier for the government to explain poor finances. It is far more complex to explain how, in the face of the crisis in the country, a worker is able to go to work, stay at work, put in eight hours at work, find his way back home, provide for his wife and then hug the children as a father that cares with a salary of N20,000.”