Makinde raises LAUTECH Hospital cleaners’ salaries to ₦80,000
By Adejayan Gbenga
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has approved an increase in the monthly salaries of cleaners at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, from ₦15,000 to ₦80,000, as he pledged to address the outstanding demands of striking workers.
Makinde announced the salary increase on Thursday during a meeting with stakeholders at the hospital. He also assured the workers that outstanding salary, minimum wage and promotion arrears would be paid, while promising to address concerns surrounding the Medical Residency Training Bill. The governor appealed to the workers to suspend their strike and allow negotiations to continue.
Explaining the financial challenges facing the state, Makinde said Oyo State’s monthly wage bill had risen from ₦4.5 billion in 2019 to ₦18 billion in 2026, despite increased federal allocations. He attributed the rise to growing expenditure and inflation, urging the workers to consider the economic realities confronting the government.
To illustrate the impact of inflation on public spending, the governor cited the 76-kilometre Iseyin-Fapote-Ogbomoso Road, which he said cost ₦43 billion in 2023 but would now require at least ₦200 billion to execute. He maintained that the government remained committed to resolving the workers’ grievances despite the financial pressures.
Makinde said the ₦162 million 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, while the government would seek ₦200 million to facilitate the settlement of other outstanding obligations.
He further disclosed that ₦38 million in minimum wage and promotion arrears covering October, November and December 2024 would be cleared. On the Medical Residency Training Bill, the governor said he expected to sign the legislation in the first week of November after receiving the clean copies.
The salary adjustment for cleaners followed an appeal made to Makinde during his visit to the hospital. The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, commended the governor for his support for the health sector, while the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Professor Olawale Olakulehin, and Board Chairman, Professor Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, urged the workers and union leaders to cooperate with the government.
Representatives of resident doctors and the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) welcomed the governor’s interventions, including ongoing renovations at the hospital’s annex in Oyo and the payment of some arrears. However, they called for the sustained implementation of professional allowance tables for resident doctors and allied health workers. Other dignitaries at the meeting included the Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Adebo Ogundoyin, and the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Musibau Babatunde.
