The Edo State Government on Tuesday paid civil servants their 13th-month salary.
This was confirmed to The PUNCH by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Monday Okpebholo, Mr Patrick Ebojele.
Ebojele said the gesture was proof of the governor’s workers-friendly policy, noting that it would bring relief to civil servants.
He explained that the governor introduced the policy a few weeks after he was sworn in last year and had sustained it this year to boost workers’ morale.
Meanwhile, civil servants in the state have expressed appreciation to Governor Okpebholo over the payment, describing it as timely and morale-boosting.
Speaking to journalists, the Director of Orientation at the Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mrs Rose Imonikhe, said the alert came as a pleasant surprise.
She said, “I woke up this morning, it was the alert that woke me up — the 13th-month salary. I’m grateful to the governor for what he has done. You can see me smiling, and that is how other officers in the Edo State civil service are smiling.”
Imonikhe noted that the payment would ease financial pressure on workers during the festive season and beyond.
“This Christmas period, most people must have spent their December salaries, so this will help them enter the new year with something in their pockets.
“Those with children’s school fees to pay can do so without stress, and others who are renewing rents will also benefit. This 13th-month salary will go very far.
“The governor has played his part; it is left for civil servants to do theirs by being more committed. He is in a hurry to deliver the dividends of democracy, and the civil service is the channel through which this can be achieved,” she said.
At the Ministry of Environment and Sustainability, the Director of Administration, Egbe Jocy, also commended the government, saying the initiative would strengthen morale and productivity across the service.
Many civil servants agreed that the gesture had brought relief and renewed confidence in the government’s people-centred approach to governance.
Governor Okpebholo, shortly after assuming office in November 2024, had implemented the payment of 13th month salaries for civil servants in the state.
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