Following the expiration of its seven-day ultimatum, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday commenced an indefinite strike across all sectors over alleged career stagnation and other welfare concerns affecting the FCT Administration’s (FCTA) teachers.
   
The labour body had issued the warning on September 8, 2026, urging the FCTA to resolve what it described as longstanding grievances concerning the promotion and welfare of teachers in the territory.
   
In a communique, the NLC FCT Council Chairman, Knabayi Adalo, said the congress considered the FCTA’s response “ambiguous, dismissive, and totally unacceptable,” and therefore rejected it.
   
Consequently, the union directed all workers in the public and private sectors, including its affiliate unions in schools, hospitals, offices and government establishments, to withdraw their services from yesterday until its demands are met.
   
At the centre of the dispute is the FCTA’s implementation of a “vacancy clause,” which subjects the promotion of teachers to the availability of vacancies in the establishment.
   
Faulting the policy, the NLC argued that teachers are recruited specifically by the FCT Universal Basic Education Board (FCT UBEB) and the FCT Secondary Education Board (FCT SEB) and should not be subjected to promotion conditions applicable to core civil servants or pool officers.
   
According to the Congress, the application of the vacancy-based promotion system to teachers has resulted in prolonged career stagnation, frustration, and demoralisation among educators in the FCT.
   
Therefore, the union demanded the immediate abolition of the clause as a condition for teachers’ promotion. It also demanded that eligible 2025 candidates be allowed to sit for their promotion examinations alongside or before the 2026 candidates.
   
The congress further called for the reversal of redeployment and demotion letters issued to directors who benefited from the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers Act, 2022, and the dissolution and reconstitution of the FCT SEB and FCT UBEB management teams.
   
Among other things, the NLC directed its enforcement committees to mobilise workers and monitor compliance with the strike across the FCT’s six area councils.