Civil servants in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), under the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), have resumed an indefinite strike across the six area councils due to the continued non-implementation of the N70,000 national minimum wage.
The workers had initially embarked on the strike in November 2024 but suspended it in December following the intervention of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
President Bola Tinubu signed the new Minimum Wage Bill into law in May 2024, setting the minimum wage at N70,000 after extensive negotiations with organized labor. However, union leaders say workers in the area councils and primary schools have yet to benefit from the wage increase, despite its implementation for other FCT employees.
In a joint statement issued on Thursday, NULGE President Abdullahi Kabi and NUT-FCT Chairman Abdullahi Shafa directed their members to resume the suspended industrial action indefinitely.
“As representatives of the people, we believe in what we see on the ground. Despite meeting with the Council Chairmen, there has been no positive change in workers’ salaries,” the statement read.
Kabi emphasized that their agreement with the Council Chairmen expired in December, and they had expected the new wage to take effect by January 2025.
The unions expressed disappointment that the agreed-upon implementation did not happen and vowed to continue the strike until their demands are met.
“We have resumed our strike. We want our demands to be met before suspending it,” the statement concluded.
