The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has been commended for his government’s relentless commitment to the welfare of workers in the state, ensuring prompt payment of salaries and allowances to workers, as well as pensions to retirees in the state.

The governor was also applauded for the ongoing reforms in the state’s civil and public service to enhance efficient service delivery to Edo people and for increasing the minimum wage of workers in the state from N30,000 to N40,000 amid the country’s current economic realities.

Speaking to journalists in Benin City, a retired Permanent Secretary at Edo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Florence Ebomoyi-Idundun, said: “the governor has not only cleared the backlog of pension arrears inherited from previous administrations but has ensured that retirees in the state receive their monthly pension as and when due without going to protest on the streets of Benin.”

Ebomoyi-Idundun noted that “the ongoing reforms in the civil and public service including the construction of the John Odigie-Oyegun Training Centre is sure to equip the workers with the right skills and knowledge to deliver efficient services. The government’s infrastructure intervention with a befitting civil service secretariat complex enhances productivity by ensuring a conducive workspace for public servants is quite laudable.

“When other states are still battling with payment of workers’ salaries and several others owing pensioners who have dedicated useful years of their lives in service to their states, forcing them to protest daily across various points in their state, Governor Godwin Obaseki has distinguished himself by ensuring that workers and retirees in the state are well catered for. I thank God for our Governor Obaseki who has been paying us as and when due. God bless and give him long life.”

Another pensioner, Gabriel Ewere, hailed the governor for prudence in the management of resources available to the state, noting that the governor’s ability to manage scarce resources is the only way he is able to do so much for the people of the state.

According to him, “It is quite commendable that in the past six years of the governor’s administration, he has continued to prioritize the state’s workforce, putting the welfare of workers at the forefront of every of his government’s programmes and policies.”