Activities at the Federal Capital Territory Administration FCTA secretariat were grounded on Monday morning as workers under the FCTA shut down the main secretariat to protest unresolved labour and welfare issues.
The action followed a directive by the Joint Union Action Congress (JUAC), which ordered workers across all cadres of the administration to withdraw their services by Monday, January 19, 2025, after the authorities allegedly failed to respond to long-standing demands.
The directive was contained in a statement dated January 8 and signed by the JUAC President, Rifkatu Iortyer, and the Secretary, Abdullahi Saleh, with the unions stating that an earlier ultimatum issued on January 7 had elapsed without meaningful engagement from management.
According to the unions, key grievances include the non-payment of 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, a practice they said was blocking career progression for serving officers.
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The workers also accused the administration of failing to remit statutory deductions, including pension contributions and National Housing Fund payments, warning that the situation could jeopardise the future welfare of affected staff.
JUAC further expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of the 2024 promotion examinations, describing the exercise as largely unsuccessful and alleging that a significant number of its members were adversely affected.
The unions maintained that the industrial action would continue until their demands were addressed.
Security operatives have been deployed to the area to keep the peace, while the Administration has yet to react to the development as of the time of filing this report.
Hours before the industrial action, the unions had sent out a notice titled "Code Remain at Home", in which it appealed to all staff to cooperate and ensure the success of what it described 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.
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