BREAKING: Court orders FCTA Workers to halt strike, resume duties

The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), sitting in Abuja, has ordered workers under the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to immediately suspend their ongoing strike and return to work.

The order was made in a ruling delivered by Justice Emmanuel Subilim, who held that embarking on an industrial action over issues already before a court amounts to resorting to self-help.

Justice Subilim acknowledged that workers have a constitutional right to embark on strike actions but stressed that such a right is not absolute.

Relying on Section 18(1)(b) of the Trade Disputes Act, the court ruled that workers are barred from embarking on a strike over matters that have been referred to the National Industrial Court for adjudication.

The judge held that where a strike has already commenced over a dispute pending before the court, such industrial action must be discontinued forthwith.

“Allowing the strike to continue while the issues are already before the court would undermine the judicial process,” the court held.

Consequently, Justice Subilim ordered the protesting workers to immediately call off the strike and resume duties at their respective duty posts.

The ruling followed a suit instituted by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, alongside the FCTA.

Listed as defendants in the suit marked NICN/ABJ/17/2026 are the President and Secretary of the Joint Union Action Congress (JUAC), Rifkatu Iortyer and Abdullahi Saleh, respectively.

The workers had embarked on the strike to protest alleged unresolved welfare issues, including a backlog of five months’ unpaid salaries, outstanding promotion arrears and what they described as poor working conditions within the FCT.

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