Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has assured striking workers of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, that outstanding salary, minimum wage and promotion arrears will be paid by mid-November.
The governor also approved an increase in the monthly salaries of cleaners at the hospital from N15,000 to N80,000 following an appeal by the workers during his visit to the facility on Thursday.
Makinde gave the assurances during a meeting with hospital management, labour union representatives and other stakeholders, urging the striking workers to call off their industrial action to allow discussions on their demands to proceed.
He said the government was committed to resolving the outstanding issues, including the Medical Residency Training Bill, but appealed for understanding over the state’s financial constraints.
“Initially, I didn’t want to respond to those who are on strike. But if there are challenges, we must find ways to solve them. You put this government in place. The first step is for you to call off the strike, and once you assure me of that, we can move forward,” the governor said.
Explaining the financial pressures facing the state, Makinde said Oyo’s monthly wage bill had increased from N4.5bn in 2019 to N18bn in 2026, despite the increase in federal allocations.
He also cited rising construction costs, noting that the 76-kilometre Iseyin-Fapote-Ogbomoso Road, executed for N43bn in 2023, would now cost at least N200bn because of inflation and other economic pressures.
The governor confirmed that N162m in salary arrears owed to the hospital workers would be paid by mid-November. He added that the October salary bill had already been prepared and signed.
Addressing the concerns of the Joint Health Sector Unions, Makinde said the government would also settle N38m in minimum wage and promotion arrears covering October, November and December 2024.
He said he would seek an additional ₦200m to facilitate payment of the outstanding obligations after salaries had been paid.
On the Medical Residency Training Bill, the governor said it would be signed once he received the final copies of the legislation, with the first week of November set as the target.
Makinde, who said he had about seven months left in office, pledged to resolve as many outstanding issues as possible before the end of his administration.
The salary increase for cleaners followed an appeal made to the governor during the visit. Their monthly pay will rise from N15,000 to N80,000, according to a statement issued by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, commended the governor’s support for the health sector and said the administration was committed to addressing issues contributing to recurring strikes.
The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Professor Olawale Olakulehin, and the Board Chairman, Professor Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, also appealed to staff and union leaders to cooperate with the government in resolving the dispute.
Representatives of resident doctors, including Dr Mustapha Adedapo and Dr John Oladapo, the second vice-president of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, alongside Comrade Olobaniyi David of JOHESU, acknowledged the government’s interventions and ongoing renovation work at the hospital’s annex in Oyo.
They, however, called for sustained implementation of professional allowance structures for resident doctors and allied health workers.
The meeting was attended by the Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Adebo Ogundoyin; Secretary to the State Government, Musibau Babatunde; Head of Service, Adenike Fashina; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Akinwale Akinwole; labour representatives and other government officials.
