Operations at the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) secretariat were disrupted on Monday morning after workers closed the main office in protest against unresolved labour and welfare concerns.
The action followed a mandate by the Joint Union Action Congress (JUAC), which urged workers from all levels of the government to withdraw their services by Monday, January 19, 2025, after the authorities reportedly failed to comply to long-standing requests.
The directive was published in a statement dated January 8 and signed by the JUAC President, Rifkatu Iortyer, and the Secretary, Abdullahi Saleh, with the unions claiming that an earlier deadline issued on January 7 had expired without substantial involvement from management.
According to the unions, key grievances include the failure to pay outstanding promotion arrears, delays in the conduct and release of promotion exercises, and what they described as the continued extension of service for retired directors and permanent secretaries, which they claimed hampered career advancement for serving officers.
The workers also accused the administration of failing to remit mandatory deductions, such as pension contributions and National Housing Fund payments, saying that the situation could jeopardize the future well-being of impacted employees.
JUAC also voiced unhappiness with the results of the 2024 promotion examinations, calling the exercise as mainly unsuccessful and claiming that a considerable number of its members were harmed.
The unions insisted that the industrial action would continue until their demands were met.
Security personnel have been deployed to the area to maintain order, and the administration has yet to respond to the situation as of the time of reporting this report.
Hours before the industrial action, the unions sent out a notification headlined “Code Remain at Home,” in which it called to all staff to collaborate and support the success of what it characterized as “agitations for a better working condition in FCTA.” “.
“By this notice, all staff are advised to stay at home as the strike action declared by JUAC commences on Monday, January 19th, 2026. Do not come to work from tomorrow because the JUAC taskforce will be on the ground to ensure compliance. The statement read in part.
“The union leadership urges members to maintain the status quo until further directives, punctuating the message with solidarity slogans such as “Aluta Continua! Victoria Acerta!” and “Enough is enough! ”, JUST had stated.
