Ondo Strike: Mimiko asks workers to suggest formular for sharing saved funds

Weighed by the five months salary arrears owed workers in the state, the Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, urged workers to come up with a sharing formula on how to pay workers with the accumulated revenue of N3.4 billion now in the state’s account.

At a town hall meeting with the workers on Tuesday at the conference centre in Akure on Tuesday, Mr. Mimiko said the state’s monthly wage bill totaled N3.9 billion, but what had accrued to the government so far, including internally generated revenue, was only N3.4 billion.

“As I speak with you, we have a minimum of N3.4 billion in the bank to be paid out to workers, either local government workers, school teachers or health workers,” he told the workers.

“I suggested that we pay health workers with a N670 million wage bill, some said no, so you should tell us how to go about it so you can return to work.”

Mr. Mimiko noted that whatever the option by the workers, the state had almost lost N600 million to the strike as that was the IGR benchmark for every month.

He however noted that from what was available, it would be impossible to talk about paying teachers’ salaries which is about N1.3 billion monthly.

“I did not mention teachers, because if I mention teachers, I will be wasting my time, we will not be able to pay teachers, because their wage bill is N1.3 billion,” Mr. Mimiko said.

Mr. Mimiko warned that although he was reluctant to consider the option of retrenchment or privatization, these options could be the easier way out for state governments in the coming months.

He said the only permanent solution to the problem was for the restructuring of the federal system being operated by Nigeria.

He called on labour to make it a cardinal agenda to get the government at the centre to consider the option of restructuring the federation.

Mr. Mimiko told the workers that there was no formula that could see a wage bill of N3.9 billion being paid with a total revenue of N1.3 billion monthly.

He urged the workers to return to work so that together they could get the economy of the state back on track.

However, leaders of the labour unions did not attend the meeting, which was well attended by the workers.

While they listened, they also murmured and refused to clap even when the governor encouraged them to clap for themselves for being part of the success story of the various milestones of his administration.

Some of the workers said the session was a mere briefing and not a dialogue, because the governor only told them what he had always said.

The reaction of labour was being awaited at the time of filing this report.