Labour warns against tax hike as Ondo okays N70,000 wage

The Ondo State Government, on Tuesday, expressed its readiness to pay the N70,000 new minimum wage to civil servants.

The state Head of Service, Mr Bayo Philip, stated this while speaking in his office, in Akure, the state capital.

However, the Chairman of the Trade Union Congress in Ondo, Clement Fatuwase, welcomed the state’s commitment to the payment of the new minimum wage but urged against the imposition of heavy taxes.

 “We are waiting for the committee set up on minimum wage to come up with the modalities of payment of the money. The governor promised us during the last May Day celebration that he would not pay less than what the Federal Government would pay.

“However, they should consider the tax that would follow the payment of the money. It should not be killing. It should not be a case of paying N70,000 and deducting N45,000. So we are waiting for the committee,” Fatuwase said.

The new minimum wage was signed into law by President Bola Tinubu after long deliberations between organised labour and the government, as well as the private sector.

The Ondo HoS said Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa had repeatedly given the assurance that his government would not do anything less than whatever was approved by the Federal Government as the new national minimum for workers.

He noted that the government also extended the gesture to retirees and workers in all state-owned tertiary institutions as a way of ameliorating the current economic situation in the country.

Philip said, “Before the bill was assented to by the President, the governor had given his words that Ondo State would pay whatever minimum wage was agreed upon and assented to by Mr President. As I speak, we are doing all the preliminaries and as soon as the details of the salary table for the minimum wage is out, we will be at it, and I know for sure that the state will implement it without delay.”

On the ongoing #Endbadgovernance protest in the country, Philip said the people of Ondo State could not protest against themselves as they had seen Aiyedatiwa’s government as their government for themselves and by themselves.

“Here, no one is protesting; not the youth, not the market women, not the students, not the public servants. As you can observe, we are in our various offices, carrying out our statutory duties and there is tranquillity across the state.

“The reason is that we have a governor who is in touch with the feelings and aspirations of the people. A governor who is well-connected with the people. In fact, the government that is been run in Ondo State is the government owned by the people themselves. So we cannot organise a protest against ourselves,” the HoS said.