The Bayelsa State Government has approved a comprehensive workers’ welfare package, including promotion arrears, new allowances, gratuities, and pensions, in a move expected to cost billions of naira.
The approvals, which cover employees in the mainstream civil service, local government, and education sectors, were announced on Tuesday during an enlarged meeting between the state government and organised labour at Government House, Yenagoa.
Deputy Governor Peter Akpe, who addressed labour leaders alongside senior government officials, said Governor Douye Diriapproved the package as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the state bureaucracy, improve service delivery, and enhance employee welfare.
Among the key measures is the extension of the retirement age for health workers from 60 to 65 years and the length of service from 35 to 40 years.
Akpe also announced the approval of the 2026 medical residency training fund, revised earned allowances, and the implementation of 2025 promotions and promotion arrears for staff of the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital.
Other approved benefits include a uniform allowance for primary healthcare workers and nurses, payment of promotion and step increment arrears, a specialist allowance for doctors on CONMESS 5, and the implementation of gratuities and pensions for retired staff on the CONHESS salary structure in the Environmental Sanitation Department.
Describing organised labour as a strategic partner in governance, Akpe said the Diri administration had consistently prioritisedworkers’ welfare through labour-friendly policies.
“Labour and government are one and the same because all of us are put together to deliver governance,” he said.
He added that the administration had deliberately strengthened the state bureaucracy, noting that civil servants remained the foundation of continuity in government.
According to the deputy governor, Governor Diri approved virtually all the demands presented by organised labour.
“It has never been witnessed in the history of this state,” he said.
Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, said the government approved more than 95 per cent of labour’s requests despite prevailing economic challenges.
“The ASSURED Prosperity Government has actually looked at all labour demands from the NLC, the TUC, the NMA and all the unions, and a lot of things were approved for them according to what they asked for,” she said.
Koku-Obiyai described the approvals as a significant boost to workers’ welfare, noting that Bayelsa had approved a uniform allowance for eligible workers for the first time since the state’s creation.
She added that resident doctors, teachers, and several other categories of workers also benefited from the package.
According to her, the government expects improved productivity, commitment, and efficiency from the workforce in return.
“The governor and government have done their part; the workers are expected to reciprocate by delivering the services they are supposed to render effectively and by being at their duty posts,” she said.
Also speaking, Commissioner for Labour, Employment and Productivity, Saturday Odoko, described the approvals as further evidence of the Diri administration’s commitment to workers’ welfare.
He said the decisions represented a win-win outcome for both the government and organised labour and would stand as a landmark achievement for workers across the state.
