Members of the Oyo State House of Assembly have agreed to a 30 per cent cut in their monthly salary.
POLITICS NIGERIA learnt that the slash in the allocation takes effect from April. The agreement was reached when the state governor, Seyi Makinde, met with the lawmakers at the government house, at the weekend in Ibadan, the state capital.
The slash, according to the lawmakers, is to assist the state government in its bid to pay salaries of workers as coronavirus bites harder on the global economy. The 30 per cent deduction includes both the lawmakers’ salaries and other monthly allowances entitled to them as State honourables.
The lawmakers noted that they decided to take the step in order to ensure that the regular payment of civil servants’ salaries is not affected, irrespective of the economic situation in the state.
At the meeting, Mr Makinde explained that the pandemic had resulted in about 60 per cent drop in the federal allocation and it is taking a toll on the state’s economy.
The Chairman, Oyo House Committee on Information and Media, Kazeem Olayanju, in a statement on Monday said the lawmakers agreed to the slash in the interest of the smooth running of the state.
“Our income has been slashed by 30 per cent as our support towards COVID-19. The governor brought the idea and we agreed that effective this month, there should be the 30 per cent deduction.”
“We were made to understand that the pandemic had greatly affected the economy of the country and the state as well as that the Federal Government has reduced allocation by 60 per cent. This situation could have affected regular payment of salary of Oyo State civil servants but the governor maintained that irrespective of the economic situation of Oyo state, the salary of civil servants must not be affected.”
“Hence, we agreed that political office holders should make sacrifices.” he stated.
