No political undertone to Sanwo-Olu’s workers’ salaries increment move — Omotoso
By Moses Adeniyi
Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso has discredited negative insinuations in some quarters that the recent move by the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu to increase salaries of workers under the employment of the State Government is a political gimmick, refuting claim that it is an election winning tactics.
The Commissioner, who stated this at an interactive session with State House Correspondents during the weekend in Lagos, noted that such insinuations are baseless considering the fact that the state governed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) since the return of civil rule in the country has been setting the pace for others to follow.
Omotoso argued that no matter the percentage of the increment, anyone putting more money in people’s pocket at this time is doing the person a whole lot of good.
“The Governor is saying that we appreciate the service you are providing and despite the fact that things are so hard, you’re still carrying on and you are putting smiles on the faces of Lagosians who are coming to government offices.
“No matter how low or high the percentage may be, I think the symbolism is that at this particular time, Mr Governor feels that workers deserve a raise and he has pronounced it.
“And if you listen to him very well, he said he has instructed the office of the Head of Service, Ministry of Establishment, Training and Pensions, the State Treasury Office to come together to look at this and see what the numbers are and see how we can go: But that workers are now going to have a pay rise is a forgone conclusion.
“I think the whole world is hailing him for doing that, but if people are now saying it is for political reasons, let so many people in position of authority also do so for political reason and raise salary,” Omotoso said.
The Commissioner added that apart from the salary increment, many projects are currently awaiting commissioning in the state.
“We have over 30 schools to be commissioned. We also have housing projects to be commissioned before the end of the year and jetties are also included.
“We are building the infrastructure for the Blue line Rail system that will take passengers from Marina to Mile 2.
“We also have the Redline that will convey passengers from Oyingbo to Agabado; both of them will be ready at the end of this year.
“Few days ago, we saw the trains for the Red-line arrived at the port; that shows that the rail project that we are working on is an alternative that we are talking about and it’s a linkage among all models of transportation.
“If you check the records, you will see that more people are now using our waterways because they have seen that it’s safe and faster. We now have more routes and we are also building more Water Jetties, in Badagry, Ikorodu and other divisions of the state,” Omotoso said.
Recall that last week, Governor Sanwo-Olu had set a broad-based agenda to improve welfare of workers under the employment of the State Government.
Among the packages were upward review of the salaries of the civil servants, increased fleet of buses and provision of cars for officers in the cadre of Directors.
According Sanwo-Olu who made the development known to the civil servants, last Tuesday when he paid a surprise visit to the Secretariat in Alausa – the seat of the Government, the move for increase in salary scale was informed by the necessity to cushion the effects of inflation, high prices of commodities and rising cost of living being experienced across the globe.
The Governor had announced also, a 25 per cent salary increment for employees in the core establishment agencies.
Sanwo-Olu had directed the Head of Service, Ministry of Establishment, Training and Pensions and the State Treasury Office (STO) to work out the modalities for upward review and statutory approvals, after which the implementation of the new pay would kick off.
According to him, the workers deserved encouraging welfare and benefits, given their unprecedented support and commitment to the core mandates of the State Government.
The Governor added that the gesture would further motivate the State’s workforce and enhance its services to the people.
“I have looked around, I know there is pressure and high level of inflation in the country. There is high cost of living everywhere. Last month at the cabinet meeting, I instructed the Office of Head of Service and Ministry of Establishment, Training and Pensions to start work on how we will increase the salaries of the entire work-force.
“I just don’t want to talk about it because we are Lagos; we reflect this decision in the lives of our people. I know the pressure of inflation is on you; we will not wait for the Federal Government before we take this decision. This is Lagos. We are going to review the salaries and ensure we take care of our public servants.
“When we do the pay rise, not only will we expect more from you, our citizens must also see the benefits of this important decision in the service delivery. We are a Government that is proactive, we don’t want the staff unions to hold us to ransom. We are responding to the yearnings of our people; I know you have not asked for it, but I am happy to tell you that a pay increase is on the way,” he had said.
