- As FCT NLC, NUT embark on indefinite strike
- ASUSS, ARYA push back, reject action
BY OUR CORRESPONDENTS – Public primary and secondary schools across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been shut again as teachers launched an indefinite strike over unpaid promotions, career progression, and poor welfare.
With the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) still figuring out what steps to take in addressing the recurring face-off with teachers, the scenario is that of locked gates, empty desks, and turned-back students that define the morning across the nation’s capital city.
Across six Area Councils yesterday as public primary and secondary teachers officially launched an indefinite strike, throwing the Federal Capital Territory’s education system into chaos. No thanks to directives issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), FCT Council and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT)
Labour Movement sources disclosed that the industrial action came on the heels of an expired seven-day ultimatum issued to the FCT Administration over long-standing grievances regarding teacher promotions, career progression, and welfare, against the backdrop of endless, shattered assurances that have simply become standard practice.
Key details of the strike which commenced on Wednesday, October 7, 2026 indicate that the core demands centre on: Removal of the FCT Administration’s (FCTA) vacancy requirement for teacher promotions, which the unions cite as the root cause of career stagnation; Inclusion of teachers eligible for promotion in 2025 to sit for exams before or alongside the 2026 candidates; Withdrawal of redeployment and demotion letters issued to directors under the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers Act, 2022; and Reinstatement of dissolved management teams of the FCT Senior Secondary Education Board (FCT SEB) and State Universal Basic Education Board (FCT UBEB).
Forefront News gathered that the NLC FCT Council directed all public and private sector workers, including school staff and affiliated unions, to stay away from their duty posts until further notice, leading to academic activities being paralysed in public primary and secondary schools across Capital Territory.
Speaking on the Congress’ directives, the FCT Chapter of NLC, led by Comrade Stephen Knabayi, said the administration’s response was neither clear, positive nor genuine, alleging that it failed to address the fundamental issue of the vacancy clause.
According to him, the policy had contributed to career stagnation and demoralisation among teachers despite their contributions to the education sector, stressing that by the indefinite strike, schools, offices, hospitals and other government establishments would remain shut until its demands were addressed.
However, the strike directives were far from smooth sailing. In a sudden twist that seems to fracture the Labour Movement’s momentum, a rebellious counter-stance has exploded onto the scene.
Spearheaded by a group that identified itself as the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), FCT Chapter, this counter-stance and internal opposition have reportedly thrown a massive wrench into the Union’s unified machinery that has been put in motion to extract definite commitments from authorities of the FCT Administration.
Rejecting the strike directives, ASUSS instructed its members to remain at work, just as another group that goes with the name, Abuja Resident Youth Association (ARYA) has called for an immediate suspension of the action to prevent academic disruption for students.
In a statement issued after an emergency meeting on Wednesday, dissociating itself from the action and directing secondary school teachers and education officers to report for work, ASUSS described the strike as premature and detrimental to educational stability.
It argued that the academic future of students should not be compromised because of an industrial dispute, noting that the vacancy requirement was a statutory provision of the Public Service Rules governing establishment control and financial planning.
Also explaining that changes to career structures should be handled through administrative dialogue, ASUSS said the administrative framework for the 2025 promotion exercise had been resolved, with the process scheduled to run concurrently with the 2026 promotion cycle under the FCT Civil Service Commission.
Furthermore, the Union maintained that the redeployment of directors in education agencies to classrooms fell within management’s statutory powers and claimed that the strike could disrupt the scheduled 2025/2026 promotion examinations for FCT education officers and urged eligible officers to participate in the examinations according to the published timetable.
With the stakes higher than ever, the union made a passionate appeal to parents, urging them to flood the classrooms with their children, just as it directed principals, vice-principals, and education officials to hold the line, keeping school doors wide open and ensure that teachers step up to the blackboard without delay.
The union also called on parents to send their children to school, directing secondary school principals, vice-principals and education officers to keep schools open and ensure that teachers report to their classrooms.
Amid the differing signals from ASUSS, the ongoing strike has found a powerful voice in Comrade Ameh Baba, the NUT chairman for the Kubwa chapter, who took aim at the contentious policy sidelined for director-level teachers.
In an emphatic defense of his colleagues, Comrade Baba countered that the legislative extension of teachers’ retirement age is meaningless if veteran educators are stripped of their roles before reaching that milestone, while also vehemently opposing the practice of using artificial vacancy shortages to deny promotions to educators who already proved their merit in rigorous examinations.
However, Comrade Baba said FCT Minister Nyesom Wike’s highly publicized achievements cannot mask a glaring failure, which is the systemic neglect of the very workers keeping the capital’s classrooms running.
Meanwhile, across the territory, pupils and students who reported for classes were turned back in some schools, while others met locked gates or classrooms without teachers.
