The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council, has directed workers in the FCT Administration and private sector to commence an indefinite strike from Wednesday over unresolved labour disputes.
The council Chairman, Mr Knabayi Adalo, announced the directive in a communique issued after an emergency State Executive Council meeting.
The strike followed the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum issued to the Minister of the FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike, over grievances concerning teachers and other labour issues.
Adalo said the industrial action became necessary after the FCT Administration failed to adequately address the workers’ demands.
He identified the abolition of the vacancy requirement for teachers’ promotions as a major demand, saying the policy had caused career stagnation and demoralisation among teachers.
The council also demanded the withdrawal of redeployment and demotion letters issued to directors in agencies under the Education Secretariat who benefited from the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers Act, 2022.
Other demands included allowing eligible 2025 teachers to sit for their promotion examination alongside the 2026 batch and dissolving and reinstating the management teams of the FCT Secondary Education Board (SEB) and the FCT Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB).
Adalo said the administration’s response to the demands was neither positive nor satisfactory.
The Head of the Civil Service, FCTA, Mrs Nancy Nathan, had informed the union in a Sept. 29 letter that Wike directed a stay of action on the concerns raised and ordered the issues to be stepped down.
Nathan also said the FCT Civil Service Commission should reschedule the 2025 promotion examination for affected education officers and expressed the minister’s commitment to addressing other outstanding issues.
Adalo, however, said the response ignored the redeployment of senior directors and failed to address the vacancy requirement.
“The council will no longer tolerate the continued dehumanisation of FCT teachers through obnoxious policies alien to the teaching profession,” he said.
He directed that all schools, hospitals, offices and government establishments across the FCT remain closed until the union’s demands were met.
Adalo also directed affiliate industrial unions in the public and private sectors to ensure full compliance with the strike and announced the establishment of enforcement committees to monitor implementation.
He urged FCT workers to remain resolute and assured them that no worker would be victimised for participating in the industrial action.
