…FCTA workers received their January salaries last Friday, alongside one month’s payment from the five-month Wage Award arrears.
ABUJA, NO GERIA- The iNews Times | FCTA has defended the payment of its workers’ salaries despite calls for a nationwide protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), according to Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
In a statement posted on his X handle on Sunday evening, Olayinka disclosed that FCTA workers received their January salaries last Friday, alongside one month’s payment from the five-month Wage Award arrears.
He explained that part of the outstanding arrears had already been settled, adding that the balance would be paid in phases. According to him, two of the five months’ arrears have been cleared, while the remaining three months will be paid with the February, March and April salaries.
Olayinka questioned the NLC’s decision to mobilise workers in other sectors for the planned protest, noting that such workers ought to be at their duty posts on the protest day.
He further stressed that FCTA workers, on whose behalf the protest is being organised, had continued to report for duty. He said they worked last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and would also be at work the following day.
The media aide also faulted the NLC for what he described as selective advocacy, pointing out that over 20 states have either stopped paying the Wage Award or failed to implement it entirely without any action from the labour union. He maintained that the FCT, which has already paid two months of the arrears, should not be singled out.
The iNews Times reports that the wage dispute is unfolding amid ongoing legal proceedings following an indefinite strike by FCTA workers under the Federal Capital Territory Administration Workers’ Joint Union Action Committee (JUAC), which began on January 19 over unresolved welfare issues.
The National Industrial Court had ordered the workers to suspend the strike following a motion filed by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and adjourned the case to March 25, 2026, for further hearing.
In response, JUAC leaders Rifkatu Iortyer and Abdullahi Saleh approached the Court of Appeal, seeking permission to challenge the ruling and requesting a stay of execution pending the appeal. The application, signed by senior lawyers including Femi Falana, SAN, argued that enforcing the lower court’s order could undermine the appeal.
Meanwhile, the NLC and the Trade Union Congress have accused the FCT Minister of intimidating workers and reaffirmed their support for the striking staff. In a joint statement, the unions described the National Industrial Court’s ruling as “one-sided” and urged workers to remain resolute.
