The Nigeria Labour Congress, Federal Capital Territory Council, on Wednesday began an indefinite strike, shutting down public and private sector operations across the territory over what it described as prolonged career stagnation of FCT teachers.
The action followed the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum issued to the FCT Administration on September 8, with the union accusing the administration of failing to resolve the teachers’ welfare disputes.
In a communique signed by the NLC FCT Council Chairman, Comrade Knabayi Adalo, the union rejected the FCTA’s response to its ultimatum, describing it as “ambiguous, dismissive, and totally unacceptable.”
At the centre of the dispute is the FCTA’s use of a “vacancy clause” which makes the promotion of teachers subject to the availability of vacancies on the establishment.
The NLC argued that teachers recruited by the FCT Universal Basic Education Board, FCT UBEB and FCT Secondary Education Board, FCT SEB, were employed specifically to teach and should not be subjected to promotion conditions applicable to core civil servants or pool staff.
The union said the policy had resulted in prolonged career stagnation and was demoralising teachers across the territory.
Among its demands, the NLC is seeking the immediate abolition of the vacancy clause for teachers’ promotions and the inclusion of eligible 2025 candidates in the promotion examination alongside, or before, the 2026 candidates.
It is also demanding the reversal of redeployment and demotion letters issued to directors benefiting from the Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers Act, 2022, as well as the dissolution and reinstatement of management teams at the FCT SEB and FCT UBEB.
Adalo said the union would not suspend the action until the issues were resolved, insisting that teachers could not be treated in the same manner as pool officers.
“Teachers are not core civil servants nor pool staff and cannot be subjected to vacancy-based promotion meant for pool officers,” he said.
He added: “The FCTA’s attempt to sustain industrial harmony without addressing injustice is mere wishful thinking.”
“There can be no peace without justice,” Adalo stated.
The NLC directed workers in public and private establishments, including its affiliate unions in schools, hospitals, offices and government agencies, to withdraw their services from Wednesday until its demands are met.
It also directed enforcement committees to mobilise across the FCT and monitor compliance with the strike.
The Congress appealed to parents, residents and civil society organisations to support the action, warning that failure to address the dispute could lead to what it described as the total collapse of the territory’s education sector.
