Oyo State Governor and presidential candidate of the Allied People’s Movement (APM), Seyi Makinde, has assured striking workers of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, that his administration will address their outstanding demands.
Makinde gave the assurance on Thursday during a meeting with stakeholders at the teaching hospital, where he pledged to settle salary arrears, minimum wage arrears and promotion arrears, as well as sign the Medical Residency Training Bill.
According to a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media to the Oyo State Governor, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, dated October 16, 2026, the governor appealed to the workers to call off their strike, urging them to consider the state’s financial challenges and cooperate with the government to resolve the issues.
He explained that although federal allocations had increased, the state’s financial obligations, particularly personnel costs and infrastructure expenditure, had risen significantly.
According to him, Oyo State’s monthly wage bill increased from ₦4.5 billion in 2019 to ₦18 billion in 2026.
Makinde illustrated the impact of inflation on government expenditure with the 76-kilometre Iseyin–Fapote–Ogbomoso Road, which cost ₦43 billion in 2023 but would now require at least ₦200 billion to execute.
“When I assumed office in 2019, FAAC was around ₦6–7 billion, and the first salary bill I signed was ₦4.5 billion. Today, the same road project we executed for ₦43 billion would cost ₦200 billion. That is our situation,” he said.
The governor, however, confirmed that the ₦162 million salary arrears owed to the workers would be paid, adding that the October salary bill had already been prepared and signed.
He said the government was targeting mid-November for the payment of the outstanding arrears.
Addressing the concerns of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), Makinde also pledged to clear ₦38 million in minimum wage and promotion arrears covering October, November and December 2024.
“I will look for ₦200 million so that once salaries are paid, we can settle these arrears, hopefully before mid-November,” he said.
On the Medical Residency Training Bill, the governor stated that he would sign the legislation once he received the clean copies, expressing hope that this would be achieved in the first week of November.
Makinde, who noted that he had approximately seven months left in office, said he was determined to resolve as many outstanding issues as possible before the end of his administration.
In a move that attracted applause, the governor also approved an increase in the monthly salary of cleaners at the teaching hospital from ₦15,000 to ₦80,000, in line with the national minimum wage.
The decision followed an appeal by the cleaners during the governor’s visit.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, commended Makinde for his support for the state’s health sector and assured workers of the administration’s commitment to addressing recurring industrial disputes.
The Chief Medical Director of LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Professor Olawale Olakulehin, and the Board Chairman, Professor Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, also thanked the governor for his interventions and appealed to staff and union leaders to cooperate with the government.
Representatives of the resident doctors, including Dr Mustapha Adedapo and Dr John Oladapo, the Second Vice-President of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), as well as Comrade Olobaniyi David of JOHESU, commended the governor for his interventions, the ongoing renovation of the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital Annex in Oyo and the payment of some outstanding arrears.
They also called for the sustained implementation of professional allowance tables for resident doctors and allied health workers.
Those present at the meeting included the Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin; Secretary to the State Government, Professor Musibau Babatunde; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Bashorun Akinwale Akinwole; Head of Service, Dr Adenike Fashina; Deputy Chief of Staff, Hon. Kazeem Adeniyi; and Senior Executive Assistant to the Governor on General Duties, Chief Bayo Lawal.
Also in attendance were the APM deputy governorship candidate in Oyo State, Engr. Mufutau Open Salawu; former Chief Medical Director of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Professor Temitope Alonge; commissioners; labour union leaders; and other dignitaries.
