Abuja is facing an indefinite shutdown as the NLC moves against the FCTA over a dispute involving teachers promotion.
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, FCT Council, has declared a total and indefinite strike that shuts down public and private sector work across the nation’s capital, starting Wednesday.
The strike follows the end of a seven-day ultimatum given to the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, on September 8, 2026.
The union had asked the FCTA to settle long-running welfare issues affecting FCT teachers.
In a statement signed by its chairman, Knabayi S. Adalo, the NLC said the FCTA’s reply was unclear, dismissive and totally unacceptable.
The main issue is the FCTA’s use of a vacancy clause, which says a teacher can only be promoted if there is a vacancy.
The NLC said teachers are hired by the FCT Universal Basic Education Board and the FCT Secondary Education Board to teach, so they are not core civil servants or pool staff.
It said applying the same vacancy rule to teachers leaves them stuck in their careers and discouraged.
The union listed its demands. It wants the vacancy clause scrapped for teacher promotions.
It wants eligible 2025 candidates to write the promotion exams alongside or before the 2026 candidates.
It also wants the redeployment and demotion letters given to directors who benefit from the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers Act, 2022, to be reversed, and the management teams at both boards to be dissolved and reinstated.
The NLC told all public and private sector workers, including affiliate unions in schools, hospitals, offices and government establishments, to stay away from work from October 7 until all the demands are met.
Enforcement committees have been told to mobilise and monitor compliance across the territory.
Adalo said teachers cannot be subjected to promotion rules meant for pool officers, and that trying to keep industrial peace without fixing the injustice is wishful thinking.
He said there can be no peace without justice.
The NLC asked parents, residents and civil society groups in the FCT to support the strike, warning that failure to act will lead to a total collapse of the education sector in the territory.