By Sarah NEGEDU
Overflowing refuse bins, foul odour and littered corridors now define the Federal Capital Territory Administration secretariat, as striking cleaners make good their threat to withdraw services over nine months of unpaid wages.
The strike, which has paralysed cleaning operations across the office complex, has left civil servants sweeping their own offices and washing toilets, following weeks of stalemate between the administration and its cleaning contractors.
The development confirms earlier warnings by waste contractors, who had in a letter to the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, AMMC, vowed to suspend services if their outstanding debts were not cleared before September 25.
In a letter dated September 17 and signed by 21 members of the Association of FCT Solid Waste and Cleaning Contractors, AFSOWAC, cautioned that Abuja risked a sanitation crisis if the debts remained unpaid, saying their patience had run out after months of silence from authorities.
“Despite our loyalty and sustained service delivery, we have not received payments since January 2025. We have reached a point where passion and commitment alone cannot sustain this essential service. Without payment, we cannot continue,” the association said.
That warning appears to have materialised, as by the second week of the strike, piles of refuse had accumulated within the FCTA Secretariat, while several offices complained of uncollected waste and dirty restrooms.
An FCTA staff, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said the situation had become unbearable as many offices have had to devise means to manage their waste.
“It’s embarrassing that the seat of the FCT Administration now smells like this. Every morning, you see staff cleaning their offices because the cleaners are gone.
“The toilets are worse because it is not enough to just flush after you. Public toilets have to be cleaned every day because of the pressure on them, but no staff would agree to wash them. We just rely on use of air freshners and cleaning supplies to tone down the stench that comes from the toilets. It’s a shame,” the official said.
Sources within the FCTA have however hinted at quiet efforts to resolve the crisis. The Abuja Inquirer gathered that one of the main contractors responsible for cleaning the FCTA Secretariat was summoned to a meeting last week, where assurances were given that part of the outstanding contract sum would be paid soon.
The source said the contractor subsequently met with his cleaners, and some were seen cleaning parts of the complex late Friday under the condition that their salaries would be settled this week.
“The management promised to clear part of the arrears. That’s why some of the cleaners came on Friday, and we got the little relief we got that day. We are now waiting to see if the payment happens, becausewe cannot continue like this. You can’t run a functioning system this way,” the source added.
The strike, which began shortly after the September 25 deadline, has thrown thousands of cleaners into hardship.
Many of them, who earn between N20,000 and N30,000 monthly, say they have survived on loans and handouts from colleagues since January.
Budget documents show that the FCTA voted over N7.3 billion for environmental sanitation and public facility maintenance in the 2025 fiscal year, raising fresh concerns over why contractors have not been paid for nine months.
Though partial cleaning resumed on Friday, public health experts warn that continued accumulation of refuse within public spaces could trigger an outbreak of diseases such as cholera and typhoid.
They also caution that the sanitation crisis, if not urgently addressed, could affect government operations in the secretariat and beyond.
Despite the crisis, no official statement has been issued by the AMMC or the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, AEPB, the agencies responsible for sanitation and waste management in the FCT.
