Back From Leave, Makinde Renews Wage Award for Oyo Civil Servants

Governor Seyi Makinde has renewed the wage award for Oyo State workers for another three months and confirmed the transport subsidy will continue, citing the hardship caused by rising fuel prices.

Governor Seyi Makinde has renewed the wage award for Oyo State civil servants for a further three months and confirmed that the state’s transport subsidy scheme will continue, in a move he said was designed to cushion workers against the hardship caused by rising fuel prices.

Makinde made the announcement on his return to the state after his annual leave, addressing labour leaders and civil servants at the seat of government in Ibadan on Thursday. “I want to assure you today that the wage award will be renewed for another three months. We will also continue with the transport subsidy,” he told the gathering.

The governor said the welfare of Oyo State residents would “always remain paramount” to his administration, pointing to what he described as substantial increases in state spending on workers since he took office. According to figures cited by the governor, the state’s monthly wage bill has grown from about ₦4.5 billion in 2019 to roughly ₦18 billion currently, while the minimum wage paid to state workers has risen from ₦18,000 to ₦80,000 over the same period.

The wage award was first introduced as a palliative measure to help workers cope with the removal of the petrol subsidy at the federal level, a policy that has kept pump prices elevated nationwide. The transport subsidy operates alongside it, subsidising public transport costs for residents in the state.

Acting Governor Abdulraheem Bayo Lawal, who oversaw the administration of the state during Makinde’s leave, was present at the event alongside labour leaders and other government officials.

Makinde used the occasion to comment on the conduct of federal governance during periods of presidential leave, contrasting his own practice of formally delegating authority to his deputy with what he suggested was a lack of similar clarity at the federal level under President Tinubu. His remarks were framed as commentary on governance procedure rather than a policy announcement, and reflect an ongoing, broader political conversation about the handling of presidential travel and delegation of authority in Nigeria.

The renewal of the wage award comes as households across Oyo State, like elsewhere in Nigeria, continue to grapple with the knock-on effects of high fuel costs on transport fares and the price of food and other goods in markets across Ibadan and the state’s other major towns.

The state government did not indicate what would happen to the wage award and transport subsidy after the new three-month period lapses, and it remains unclear whether the measures will be reviewed again depending on national fuel price trends.