Wike drew battle lines with striking teachers and FCT workers

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has drawn battle lines with striking teachers and civil servants taking part in the indefinite strike announced by the FCT chapter of the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC).

The minister directed the chairmen of the six regional councils to implement a “no work, no pay” policy against the striking workers.

Wike gave the directive at the weekend after an administrative meeting in Abuja, describing the strike as politically motivated and insisting that issues raised by organized labor had been addressed and agreed measures had been implemented.

He confirmed that the FCT Government had no outstanding disputes with regional councils, local education authorities or primary schools, and warned that the government would not tolerate what he described as political blackmail.

“We want to state firmly and tell the public: this so-called strike declaration is political, and we will not accept it. We will not accept it because there is no basis for anyone to call for a strike.

“We don’t have any problems with local government, local education authorities or primary schools,” the minister said.

Wike further stated that a number of stakeholders in the education sector, including representatives of senior primary school teachers, rejected the industrial action because they considered it unnecessary.

“Senior primary school teachers have said no, they cannot take part in this strike, and this is unwarranted.

“Everything they talked about has been agreed and implemented, so why are we striking? They said, ‘No, we can’t be part of this, we don’t have a problem,'” he said.

Responding to workers’ complaints, the Minister said the process of resolving issues related to promotions was ongoing, while directors’ matters were handled through established administrative procedures.

He directed regional council chairmen to ensure that teachers and other civil servants returned to their duty posts, and warned that salaries would be cut as long as workers participated in the strike.

“I have directed the county board to go back and call their teachers and civil servants. If anyone does this, we will implement ‘no work, no pay.’

“Enough is enough; we cannot continue with this,” Wike said.

The minister also accused the FCT NLC chairman of allowing partisan political interests to influence the union’s activities, and alleged that he had contested the regional council elections on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Wike claimed the strike was intended to portray the FCT as being in crisis, especially by creating the impression that schools were closing ahead of the elections.

“If you ask who is the chairman of the Nigerian Labor Congress, he is a former ADC Area Council candidate in the last election.

“You can see his interest in trying to see that the FCT is in crisis, and then wanting to use that as a political tool—that the FCT teachers are at home, there is no one to teach the students, so how can you now contest elections when the students are at home?” he said.

He urged the NLC chairman to separate union leadership from partisan politics, arguing that anyone seeking political office should renounce his position in the labor movement.

“We cannot accept such blackmail. If you want to involve yourself in politics, you are free to do so, but apologize to the union leadership so as not to politicize it,” the minister added.