The Nigeria Labour Congress (FCT chapter) has issued a final warning to authorities, threatening to paralyze Nigeria’s capital if longstanding wage disputes remain unresolved beyond July 3. The union’s drastic move follows failed negotiations affecting thousands of area council workers who have endured months of unpaid wages and suspended benefits.
“We had to extend the ultimatum because of Tinubu’s movements to inaugurate the FCT-executed project,” revealed NLC’s FCT Secretary Omotayo Akanni Knabayi.
“Members of the union will take over the streets of Abuja as soon as Tinubu concludes the inauguration.” The strategic delay allows President Tinubu to complete scheduled infrastructure commissioning before facing labour’s full wrath.
The impending labor crisis which has already crippled critical services across Abuja’s six area councils, with primary healthcare centers, public schools, and local government secretariats, stems from a cascade of unresolved wage disputes that have left area council workers in dire straits.
Workers are demanding payment of months-long minimum wage arrears, implementation of a negotiated 40% peculiar allowance, and fulfillment of previously agreed 25% and 35% salary increases that remain in limbo. The situation worsened when the Federal Government’s promised N35,000 wage award failed to materialize, compounded by the unexplained suspension of a N70,000 minimum wage initiative after just one month of implementation in May.
These mounting grievances have been met with what labor leaders describe as blatant disregard from area council chairpersons, despite the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum delivered on June 13. The complete breakdown in negotiations has pushed workers to the brink, with the NLC now poised to escalate protests from the current service disruptions to a full-scale shutdown of the capital.
A seven-day ultimatum delivered on June 13 expired without resolution last Thursday, exposing what labour leaders call “bad faith negotiations” by area council chairpersons. The NLC confirms formal notices have been served to both FCT Administration and security agencies, framing the planned mass action as a last resort after exhausting all diplomatic channels.
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