Workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration and the Federal Capital Development Authority on Monday began an industrial action, bringing activities across Abuja to a halt over what they described as “unmet demands” by the Federal Government.
A Channels Television crew that visited the FCTA Secretariat at about 9:00 a.m. observed tight security at the entrance, with operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Nigeria Police Force manning the gate.
Staff were prevented from gaining access to the premises.
The industrial action is expected to disrupt operations across all FCTA secretariats, departments, agencies, area councils and parastatals, effectively grounding official business within the Federal Capital Territory.
Earlier, the Joint Union Action Congress (JUAC) had directed workers across all cadres of the administration to withdraw their services from Monday, January 19, 2025.
The directive was contained in a statement dated January 8 and jointly signed by the JUAC President, Rifkatu Iortyer, and the Secretary, Abdullahi Saleh. The unions said an earlier ultimatum issued on January 7 expired without any meaningful engagement from management.
According to the unions, their major demands include the non-payment of outstanding promotion arrears, delays in conducting and releasing promotion exercises, and what they described as the continuous extension of service for retired directors and permanent secretaries — a practice they said was stalling career progression for serving officers.
The workers also accused the administration of failing to remit statutory deductions such as pension contributions and National Housing Fund payments, warning that the situation could threaten the future welfare of affected employees.
JUAC also expressed displeasure over the outcome of the 2024 promotion examinations, describing the exercise as largely unsuccessful and alleging that many of its members were negatively impacted.