Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike has faulted the ongoing industrial action declared by the FCT chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as political.

Mr Wike, who addressed journalists after a meeting with the FCT area council chairmen on Friday, tagged the strike as baseless, adding the FCT administration had no dispute with teachers.

“This so-called strike declaration is political, and we will not accept it,” the minister stated. “There’s no basis for anybody to call for a strike. All the things they are talking about have been agreed and are being implemented.”

Mr Wike said the Trade Union Congress and the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools had disowned the strike.

The minister further directed area councils to call their teachers and civil servants back to work, warning that “no work, no pay” would be implemented.

According to Mr Wike, the chairman of the NLC in the FCT was a former area council aspirant of the African Democratic Congress and was trying to create crisis in the FCT for political reasons.

The minister’s statement came after the NLC Abuja council directed all workers in the FCT administration, including those in the private sector, to commence an indefinite strike from Wednesday.

The ‌directive followed the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum issued to Mr Wike over unresolved labour disputes and policy grievances affecting teachers.

Announcing the development, the council chairman, Knabayi Adalo, identified one demand as abolishing the vacancy pre-condition for teachers’ promotions, which he described as the primary cause of career stagnation and demoralisation.

Mr Adalo also demanded the immediate withdrawal of redeployment and demotion letters issued to directors in agencies under the Education Secretariat who benefited from the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers Act, 2022.