Striking FCTA Workers, NLC Picket Industrial Court as Wike Sues Unions

Workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), backed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), on Monday staged a protest at the national industrial court in Abuja over the ongoing industrial action.

The protest followed a directive from the NLC, which declared full support for the industrial action.

The NLC said the strike was justified due to “persistent violations” of workers’ rights by the FCTA management and political leadership.

The protesters carried placards with the inscriptions “Wike must go!!”, “Abuja no be Rivers”, “Pay promotion arrears”, “Enough is Enough” and “No working tools”.

The FCTA workers began an indefinite strike last week over “authorities’ failure to address long-standing labour and welfare demands”.

The strike has led to the shutdown of activities across major government offices in Abuja.

Subsequently, Nyesom Wike, FCT minister, took the Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC) to court over the industrial action.

The suit marked NICN/ABJ/17/2026 was filed at the Abuja division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) and is scheduled for today.

Court documents showed that the claimants in the suit are the FCT minister and the FCTA, while the defendants are Rifkatu Iortyer, president of JUAC, and Abdullahi Saleh, secretary-general of the union, sued in their representative capacities.