Obaseki: Edo funding new minimum wage, others with savings from reduced cost of governance

• Claims state safest in South South

The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has said that the state government can pay the new N70,000 minimum wage to workers and fund the numerous developmental projects, as well as, other programmes initiated by his government with funds saved from reducing the cost of governance.

Obaseki, who spoke to journalists in Benin City, said that the state government made plans for the minimum wage three years ago when the telltale signs began to show that the economy was going in the wrong direction.

He said: “I can pay N70,000 because two or three years ago, I raised the alarm that we were resorting to massive borrowings, which will be inflationary in the long run. I predicted that there would be a massive devaluation of our currency.

“You will ask, if you knew this, what did you do? We knew it would translate into the demand for higher wages because of inflation, and so we said, look, let’s focus on building a much more efficient economy. Let’s focus on reducing our cost of governance. Let’s focus on training our people and getting more productivity out of them.”

In the same vein, the governor said that investment in strengthening the state’s security architecture and overhauling the security system has transformed Edo into being the safest in the South South, as well as, one of the most secure in the country.

Obaseki noted that the state government gained the confidence of investors, which has resulted in the influx of businesses, leading to enhanced economic activities, and increased revenues for the state.

The governor, while noting that security is local, listed some of the nuanced steps taken to include the decentralisation and democratisation of the security system to allow community participation in the state’s policing and security architecture.

He explained that the state has over 15,000 vigilante operatives policing various communities across the 18 local councils. He added that the initiative has tremendously improved safety and security in the state.