The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has taken the Joint Unions Action Committee of the Federal Capital Territory Administration to court over the ongoing strike by FCTA workers, as the dispute heads for a hearing on Monday.
Workers of the FCTA and the Federal Capital Development Authority commenced an indefinite strike on Monday after the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum, grounding activities across major government offices in Abuja.
The industrial action shut down operations at the FCTA Secretariat, prompting the deployment of operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Nigeria Police Force to restrict access to the complex.
Despite claims by the FCTA management that most of the workers’ demands had been met, the JUAC rejected the assertion and insisted that the issues at stake remained unresolved.
The lawsuit, sighted by our correspondent on Thursday, was filed at the Abuja Division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria.
It bears suit number NICN/ABJ/17/2026 and is being presided over by Justice E. D. Subilim.
The claimants are the FCT Minister and the FCTA, while the defendants are the President of JUAC, Rifkatu Iortyer, and the Secretary General, Abdullahi Saleh, sued in their representative capacities.
Court documents sighted indicated that the minister and the FCTA are seeking an order restraining the unions and their agents from engaging in picketing, obstruction, lockouts or any action directed at the claimants, departmental heads and political appointees. A reported from Punch had earlier revealed.
The unions were accused of blocking roads, shutting offices and disrupting the smooth running of the FCT administration.
At the hearing of the application, counsel for the claimants were present in court, while the defendants were absent.
The minister and the FCTA were represented by a team of senior lawyers, including Ogwu Onoja (SAN); M.A. Ebute (SAN); George Ibrahim (SAN); K.O. Mustapha and Esther Audu.
After reviewing the affidavits and written submissions, Justice Subilim held that the applicants had established sufficient grounds for the reliefs sought and granted leave for substituted service of court processes on the defendants.
In a ruling delivered on January 21, the court granted leave for substituted service of court processes on the defendants.
The judge ordered that service be effected through publication in Leadership Newspaper or any other national daily, as well as by pasting the processes at the JUAC office located at the FCTA Secretariat, No. 1 Kapital Street, Area 11, Garki, Abuja.
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