No Work, No Pay — Wike Issues Fresh Warning To Striking FCT Workers

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has accused the FCT chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) of pursuing a politically motivated agenda through its ongoing industrial action.

According to Bush Radio Academy, Wike made the remarks after a meeting with the chairmen of the six area councils in the FCT, insisting that the issues raised by organised labour had already been addressed by the administration.

The minister also claimed that the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) had distanced themselves from the strike.

Wike warned that the FCT administration would enforce the “no work, no pay” policy against workers participating in the industrial action, maintaining that the government had no outstanding issues with the area councils.

He challenged workers who were not part of the union to reconsider their participation in the strike, saying, “If you want to expose yourself, you are free to. But excuse yourself if you are not part of the union, so you don’t participate.”

The minister further insisted that the administration had fulfilled its obligations regarding the concerns raised by labour, arguing that the union could not claim that the issues under discussion remained unresolved.

“We have no issues with them at all, and they cannot tell the public that issues we have raised have not been addressed. Everything we have, we implement,” Wike said.

He questioned the justification for continuing the strike, arguing that the government had made efforts to resolve the workers’ grievances and could not understand why the industrial action was still ongoing.

Wike also alleged that the FCT NLC chairman was pursuing a political agenda connected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), suggesting that the dispute was being influenced by political interests rather than solely by labour-related concerns.

The allegations reflect the growing disagreement between the FCT administration and organised labour over the reasons for the industrial action and the status of negotiations.