Breaking: FCT Workers Begin Indefinite Strike as Ultimatum Expires
- The Nigeria Labour Congress FCT Council ordered all workers in the FCT Administration and private sector to begin an indefinite strike from Wednesday
- The strike directive followed the expiry of a seven-day ultimatum issued to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike over unresolved disputes affecting teachers
- NLC FCT Council Chairman Knabayi Adalo said special enforcement committees would be set up across sectors to ensure compliance
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Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over eight years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international issues
FCT, Abuja - The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council, has called an indefinite strike, directing all workers under the FCT Administration, including those in the private sector, to stop work from Wednesday, October 7, 2026.
The Council Chairman, Knabayi Adalo, said the industrial action became unavoidable after the FCT Administration failed to adequately address the union's demands.
Source: Original
As reported by Vanguard, Adalo announced the decision in a communique released after an emergency State Executive Council meeting.
Why the strike was declared
The action follows the expiry of a seven-day ultimatum the NLC had earlier issued to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
Among the core demands is the scrapping of a vacancy precondition that Adalo said had stalled teachers' career progression and caused widespread demoralisation within the profession.
The union also called for the immediate reversal of redeployment and demotion letters issued to directors in Education Secretariat agencies who benefited from the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers Act, 2022.
Additional demands included allowing 2025-eligible teachers to sit promotion exams alongside the 2026 batch, and the dissolution and reinstatement of management teams at both the FCT Secondary Education Board and the FCT Universal Basic Education Board.
The FCT Administration had responded through the Head of the Civil Service, Mrs Nancy Nathan, in a letter dated September 29, 2026.
Nathan wrote that Wike had directed a stay of action and asked that the issues be stepped down, while the FCT Civil Service Commission was told to reschedule the 2025 promotion exam for affected education officers. The letter also expressed the minister's commitment to resolving other outstanding concerns.
Adalo, however, rejected that response, saying it completely overlooked the illegal redeployment of senior directors and offered no real solution to the vacancy clause dispute.
He described the administration's position as "neither positive nor clear nor genuine" and said it was therefore "dismissive and unacceptable."
What the strike means for FCT
Adalo directed that all schools, hospitals, offices and government establishments across the FCT remain shut until every union demand is met. He also instructed affiliate industrial unions in both the public and private sectors to enforce full compliance among their members.
Special enforcement committees are being set up across sectors to monitor adherence to the strike directive.
Adalo assured workers that no one would face punishment for taking part in the action, which he described as a legitimate exercise of workers' rights.
"The council will no longer tolerate the continued dehumanisation of FCT teachers through obnoxious policies alien to the teaching profession," Adalo said.
Source: Twitter
Workers declare 3-day warning strike
Meanwhile, Legit.ng also reported that the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council ordered its leaders to mobilise workers for LC
three-day warning strike across all tiers of government.
The industrial action follows the Federal Government's alleged failure to act on demands submitted to President Bola Tinubu on September 21, 2026.
The council's demands include a petrol price cut to N500 per litre, an immediate wage award, and a new national minimum wage negotiation.
Source: Legit.ng
