Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State says he increased the minimum wage in the state to reflect the current economic realities of the country.
Obaseki had announced a N70,000 minimum wage, an increase from the N40,000 paid previously by his government as against the N30,000 national minimum wage.
The move had generated conversations among Nigerians but the governor said with the depreciating value of the country’s currency – the naira – and the rising cost of living, it made sense to introduce a new minimum wage for state workers.
“Let us understand this new minimum wage calculation. In 2011, when the minimum wage was N18,000, the exchange rate was N160/$ and so effectively workers in Edo State were taking home about $120 as minimum wage. When we increased the minimum wage to N40,000 in 2022, the exchange rate at that time was N450/$ so effectively, workers were getting about $96,” he said on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.
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“Today, 2024, with the N70,000 minimum wage at the current exchange rate of N1,257/$, what they are taking home is $55 which is less than 50 per cent of what they were earning about a year ago.
“For us in Edo State, we believe that the issue is about productivity; paying people well so that they can produce more and not pretending that you are paying them some salary when you know that that salary cannot motivate them to produce the goods and services that you require.”
