Coronavirus: Oyo assembly members take 30 percent pay cut

Oyo State Assembly members have announced that they will be taking a 30 per cent cut in their monthly allocation, to support the fight against Coronavirus.

The announcement was made after Governor Seyi Makinde had a meeting with the lawmakers in Ibadan last weekend.  The 30 per cent deduction includes both the lawmakers’ salaries and other monthly allowances entitled to them as State honourables.

The lawmakers said they decided to take the pay cut to ensure that the regular payment of civil servants’ salaries is not affected, irrespective of the economic situation in the state.

The statement released on Monday April 20, by the Chairman, Oyo House Committee on Information and Media Kazeem Olayanju, reads;

“Our income has been slashed by 30 per cent as our support towards COVID-19.

“The governor brought the idea and we agreed that effective this month, there should be the 30 per cent deduction.

“We were made to understand that the pandemic had greatly affected the economy of the country and the state as well as that the Federal Government has reduced allocation by 60 per cent.

“This situation could have affected regular payment of salary of Oyo State civil servants but the governor maintained that irrespective of the economic situation of Oyo state, the salary of civil servants must not be affected.

“Hence, we agreed that political office holders should make sacrifices.”