The President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has officially announced and approved ₦70,000 as the new minimum wage for Nigerians after the back-and-forth between the Organised Labour and the federal government.

The President had initially created the Tripartite Committee to oversee the decision involving the suggestion of a suitable minimum wage for Nigerians after the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), and Trade Union Congress (TUC) lamented that the previous minimum wage (₦33,000) was meagre and unsuitable as the cost of living had risen above the minimum wage’s capacity.

The federal government, along with state governors, weighed in heavily on the proposal of the minimum wage, each party suggesting a minimum wage figure they believed they could pay to government workers.

However, the Organised Labour, with its minimum wage proposal, rejected all the offers brought to the table by the Tripartite Committee, FG, and state governors by suggesting its figure ₦497,000 before finally reducing it to ₦250,000.

The last proposed minimum wage by the federal government was ₦62,000 before the President tasked the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to submit a template that would be used in the approval of a new and suitable minimum wage.

Though the template was not revealed to the public, President Bola Tinubu, in a second meeting with the Organised Labour today, finally revealed the figure of the new minimum wage, capping it at ₦70,000 with a promise to review the minimum wage figure every three years.