NLC threatens showdown as FCT teachers strike nears 90 days

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The indefinite strike by primary school teachers in the Federal Capital Territory has now entered its 86th day, with no sign of resolution in sight.

The Area Council chairmen have continued to flout agreements to pay teachers their new minimum wage and outstanding allowances.

The FCT chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, on Wednesday, however, issued a seven-day ultimatum to the FCT Administration in a letter signed by the NLC Chairperson, Stephen Knabayi.

The union threatened a mass mobilisation and picketing of the entire FCT if urgent action was not taken.

The long-running industrial action, which resumed on March 24, 2025, has paralysed learning across over 400 public primary schools in the six Area councils of the FCT, leaving thousands of pupils stuck at home or left unattended in dilapidated classrooms.

The ongoing strike was sparked by the failure of the six Area Councils to implement the N70,000 minimum wage agreement signed in a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding on December 11, 2024.

The MoU had been brokered by the FCT Administration and endorsed by the FCT wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, and the Nigeria Labour Congress. Punch