Wike vs. FCT Workers: Court fixes Tuesday to rule on motion to halt strike

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA– The National Industrial Court (NICN), sitting in Abuja, has adjourned until Tuesday for ruling on a motion seeking to stop workers under the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) from continuing their ongoing strike.

Justice Emmanuel Subilim okayed the matter for ruling after he listened to arguments by counsel to the FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, and that of the protesting workers.

Whereas Mr. James Onoja, SAN, announced his appearance for both the FCT Minister and the FCTA, who are claimants in the matter, Mr. Maxwell Opara represented the defendants.

Cited as defendants in the suit marked: NICN/ABJ/17/2026, are the President and Secretary of the Joint Union Action Congress (JUAC), Rifkatu Iortyer and Abdullahi Saleh, respectively.

The suit is, among other things, praying the court to compel the striking FCTA workers to return to their duty posts.

The workers had embarked on an industrial action over alleged unresolved welfare issues they said included a backlog of five months of unpaid salaries; long-outstanding promotion arrears; as well as poor working conditions in the FCT.

At the resumed proceedings in the matter, counsel to the defendants, Mr. Opara, prayed the court to also join the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) as defendants.

He argued that their inclusion would ensure that they would be bound by any order the court would make in the matter.

The application was opposed by the claimants’ lawyer, Onojo, SAN, who insisted that the matter could be effectively decided without the NLC and the TUC.

Onoja, SAN, contended that the suit was properly constituted, stressing that the two defendants on record are not registered under the Trade Union Act.

He urged the court to accede to prayers in the suit by directing the striking workers to immediately resume their duties, lamenting that the ongoing industrial action has crippled essential services within the FCT.

Before adjourning the case till Tuesday to rule on the request for a restraining order, Justice Subilim declined to join the NLC and TUC as defendants in the suit.

He held that since the two unions were not sued by the claimants, it is not the place of the court to order their inclusion as defendants in the matter.

Meanwhile, the protesting workers besieged the court premises with placards to register their displeasure over the decision of the FCT Minister to initiate a legal action against them.

Some of the inscriptions on the placards read: “Wike must go!!”, “Abuja no be Rivers”, “Pay promotion arrears”, “Enough is Enough”, and “No working tools”.

Armed security operatives were also sighted around the court’s vicinity.

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