Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Monday, approved the payment of N25,000 for workers and N15,000 for pensioners as wage award in the state for the next six months.

The PUNCH reports that workers had in October threatened to embark on an indefinite strike should the government fail to meet their demands for a wage increase, following the announcement of N35,000 by the Federal Government as a wage award.

Makinde, who made this announcement while addressing workers who besieged Agodi Governor’s Office in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, further assured them of receiving payment alerts from their respective banks before the week ends.

He disclosed that the amount announced as a wage award for both workers and pensioners would add N2.2 billion to the state government’s wage bill for each month.

Makinde insisted that the N2.2 billion would have a direct impact on the state’s finances, expressing determination to make his promise to the workers come to fruition.

“We all understand that it is a challenging period for us as a nation and as a state, you have to look at your pocket to see what we can do. So, for every pensioner in the state, we will give them N15,000 monthly for the next six months, and I guarantee it starts in October. And for workers, we are doing N25,000 to cushion the effects of this economic challenge that we are all going through,” he explained.

While calling on the workers to show more understanding, the governor said he understood that the economy was biting hard on household finances due to fuel subsidy removal and the naira-dollar exchange rate.

The governor said, “The current economic situation calls for deeper partnership and cooperation between government and workers rather than having the ‘we against them’ disposition. The present economic situation would pass with collective efforts.”

Earlier, the state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Kayode Martins, said the governor’s gesture should put to an end all agitations for wage award.