The Special Adviser to the Kogi State Governor on Labour Matters, Comrade Onuh Edoka, has commended the administration of Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo for prioritising workers’ welfare, saying the state has restored prompt payment of salaries and pensions.
Comrade Edoka spoke on Tuesday at the Workplace Security Campaign for Tinubu/Ododo 2027, held in Ankpa Local Government Area of the state.
He said pensioners in Kogi State are now receiving their entitlements regularly, a development he described as unprecedented.
“Today in Kogi State we are seeing a governor who is paying pensions as and when due and regularly,” he said.
The Special Adviser disclosed that the state government releases N150 million monthly to the Pension Commission, amounting to about N1.8 billion annually for pension payments. He added that discussions are ongoing with the state government to secure a loan or bond to liquidate outstanding gratuities owed to pensioners, expressing optimism that the initiative would materialise.
Comrade Edoka also lauded the Ododo administration for being among the first in the country to implement the new national minimum wage, for granting a two-year tax holiday on the wage increase, and for ensuring prompt payment of full salaries to local government workers.
He listed other worker-focused interventions of the administration to include the full implementation of hazard allowances for doctors and health workers, health insurance coverage for workers and pensioners, payment of promotions and promotion arrears, payment of leave bonuses, and the donation of three buses to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiating Council (JNC).
He noted that with rising retirements, the state’s workforce is shrinking even as the pension roll grows, a trend he said had informed the governor’s plan for massive recruitment into the state civil service.
Addressing union leaders of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), the Medical and Health Workers Union, the Associations of Senior Staff of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) and the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Comrade Edoka urged workers at the grassroots to remain security-conscious and to support continuity in government.
“Governor Ododo would rather work with you and keep you than rush to tax your salary. He has great respect for grassroots workers,” he told the union chairmen.
According to him, the Workplace Security Campaign is aimed at sensitising local government workers on vigilance and preparedness, while also consolidating the gains recorded under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo.
He called on workers to make informed political choices ahead of the 2027 elections in order to protect the welfare gains and industrial harmony currently enjoyed in the state.
