…As Kogi PDP Vice Chairman slumps, dies***

Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has assured that no worker in the payroll of the state government would earn less than the national minimum wage.

Makinde gave the assurance on Wednesday during the 2020 Inter-Religious Prayer Service, organised by the state government at the State Secretariat, Agodi in Ibadan.

He said that a committee had been set up to oversee the negotiation and implementation of the new minimum wage.

The governor said his government was on the same page with labour on the new N30,000 minimum wage for workers.

He posited that government and the civil servants would be reasonable in the negotiation, saying they were heading in the same direction of delivering good governance and development to the state.

Makinde further reiterated his administration’s commitment toward improved welfare for the state workforce and better living standard of the residents.

In her address, Mrs Ololade Agboola, the state Head of Service, urged the state civil/public servants to remain loyal and committed to work in the New Year.

Agboola enjoined the workers to give room for innovations and ideas, as a new way of carrying out their duties as well as comportment to relate with members of the public.

“Handling government’s resources and properties, and relating well with co-workers, are the ways to go,’’ she said.

She disclosed that an approval had been given by the governor for the conduct of a Productivity/Merit Award Day, which was expected to be institutionalised to ensure improvement in the performance of workers in the state.

“It is generally believed that no organisation can work effectively and objectively without measuring its performance.

“Just like in the private sector, the productivity and award system will allow workers to strive for relevance by giving their best in all they do, as they are being watched.

“Show love to your co-workers and create conducive work environment for the betterment of the state civil service,” she said.

Agboola expressed appreciation to the governor for his worker-friendly disposition, adding that the prompt and regular payment of salaries and pension allowances, among other welfare packages, were highly appreciated by the workers.

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 Civil/public servants in their hundreds, commissioners and other top government functionaries attended the prayer session.

In the meantime, the Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) in Kogi State, Chief Kola Ojo, is dead.

A statement by the state Publicity Secretary of PDP, Mr Bode Ogunmola, in Lokoja on Wednesday said that Ojo slumped and died in Lagos Tuesday evening while playing lawn tennis.

Ojo, a legal practitioner, was said to be regular player of the game at the Sports Centre, Ogudu GRA, in Lagos where the incident happened at about 5:55 p.m.

“The Sports Centre was said to be about a five -minute drive to his residence within the GRA.

“He was immediately rushed to a nearby private hospital but was pronounced dead by doctors on duty.
Ogunmola described Ojo as a “reliable pillar of the party.”

“He was until his death the Vice Chairman of the party in Kogi West Senatorial district. He did his best to improve the fortunes of the party,” he said.

According to him, the late Ojo joined politics after retiring from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He hailed from Okoro Gbede, Ijumu Local Government Area of the state and was married and has four children.