The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress has vowed to shut down Abuja if authorities fail to resolve the lingering industrial crisis affecting area council workers by July 3.
Chairman of the FCT NLC, Dr Stephen Knabayi, who spoke in an interview with the News men in Abuja on Thursday, said the union’s planned action will be activated once President Bola Tinubu concludes his ongoing project inaugurations in the capital city.
“We had to extend the ultimatum because of Tinubu’s movements to inaugurate the FCT-executed project,” Knabayi stated.
“Members of the union will take over the streets of Abuja as soon as Tinubu concludes the inauguration, hopefully on July 3. We are waiting for it to end, and we will come together to step up our planned action,” he stated further.
The FCT has been battling months of industrial unrest across its six area councils, with several primary healthcare centres shut down, public schools deserted by teachers, and offices in the secretariats largely abandoned.
The labour crisis is rooted in the non-payment of outstanding arrears of the national minimum wage, refusal to implement a 40 per cent peculiar allowance, as well as the failure to enforce earlier agreed salary increments of 25 per cent and 35 per cent. Workers are also demanding the payment of the N35,000 wage award promised by the Federal Government.
Knabayi decried the authorities’ indifference, saying council chairmen have shown little or no interest in resolving the issues despite multiple appeals.
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“This is very unfortunate. Like, you know, a strike or protest is always the last option, but we were left with no other option. We are not happy, and it is not going to be a small thing if they don’t do the needful,” he said.
The union, in collaboration with the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, and the National Association of Health Workers, had earlier issued a seven-day ultimatum to the FCT Administration on June 13.
The deadline expired on June 20 without any resolution, forcing the unions to begin mobilising members for a full-scale protest.
“We had to delay our action out of respect for the ongoing inauguration activities. But once those are over, we will act,” Knabayi warned.
He added that both the FCT Administration and security agencies had been officially notified of the planned demonstration, describing it as a final call for the government to act.
Knabayi also lamented the sudden suspension of the N70,000 minimum wage recently introduced in the area councils, stating that it was launched in May but scrapped the following month with no explanation.
“It is very unfortunate that up to this moment nothing has been done to address the lingering welfare crises in the area councils,” he concluded.
