By Christiana Ekpa
The gubernatorial candidate of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Oyo State, Engineer Olukayode Joshua Popoola, has said that the current minimum wage of N30,000 cannot survive workers in a month.
Popoola made this disclosure during a town hall meeting organised by the Political Commission of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Oyo State chapter, tagged “One-on-one with Oyo Workers” on Tuesday.
Popoola said: “The N30,000 minimum wage cannot buy anything. So, I will call the NLC, TUC and other unions to review the minimum wage.”
According to him, his first priority, if elected governor, is “announcement of local government autonomy, development start across wards in local government before coming to the state.”
He said: “Our party believes in grassroots development, if elected, the local governments would be autonomous. I am not doing them a favour; it is already in the constitution and I am just obeying what the Constitution says. If the local governments are autonomous, they would be able to carry out their projects, to the advantage of their people at the local level, and even the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) will have a more conducive environment to workers.”
He said further: “One of the major plans we would activate in government is adequate job security and also boost the workforce. We would employ more workers without sacking anyone.
He said he would also consider a review of the minimum wage, noting that the Oyo State government is yet to fulfil its promise on payment of minimum wage.
The NLC chairman in the state, Comrade Kayode Martins, in his remarks, lamented that most of the candidates do not fulfil their promises when they eventually become governor after coming to them to seek votes during the election.
Martins said the purpose of the event was to have a close rapport with the guber candidates so as to embrace dialogue instead of confrontation when they eventually become the governor of the state.
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