The Kwara Government says it spends N1.3 billion every month to pay more than 50,000 workers on its payroll.

The state Head of Service, Alhaji Dabarako Mohammed, said this on Thursday in Ilorin in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

He explained that the state's wage bill had risen from N700 million monthly to N1.3 billion as a result of the new minimum wage.

Mohammed, however, said that inspite of the increased wage bill, government was not ready to retrench workers.

"Government will be more concerned with the welfare, training and retraining of workers this year than the previous one," he said.

Reacting to criticisms of the state's 2013 Appropriation Bill in which recurrent expenditure exceeded capital expenditure, Mohammed said the development was as a result of the huge workforce.

He said there were some capital projects that were executed in previous years and required manpower for proper functioning and maintenance.

"Anybody suggesting a reverse is calling for sack of civil servants and whoever makes such a call should await the reaction of the Nigeria Labour Congress.

"Sometimes, government embarks on capital projects like hospitals and would definitely need workers to work there.

"That development will no doubt jack up the state's recurrent expenditure profile," he said.