Teachers in the Federal Capital Territory FCT Abuja have renewed their appeal for the settlement of outstanding entitlements and urgent intervention to improve the city’s transport system as labour tensions continue to rise in the nation’s capital.
In a letter addressed to the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, Abdulsalam Haruna, Coordinator of the FCT LEA Teachers Forum, recalled that during the 2024 2025 academic session public primary schools in Abuja were shut for about three months due to a strike by teachers demanding the fulfilment of their rights from the six area council chairmen.
Haruna acknowledged that teachers eventually began receiving the N70,000 national minimum wage following the intervention of the minister. He added that although nine months arrears were partly settled, three area councils were still yet to complete payment of the outstanding minimum wage arrears.
He explained that the new minimum wage and its arrears represent only one among several unresolved demands by primary school teachers in the FCT.
According to him, teachers are also pressing for the implementation and payment of a 40 percent peculiar allowance, the 25 and 35 percent salary increases and their arrears, the N35,000 wage award and accumulated promotion arrears dating back to 2014 across the six area councils.
The coordinator further lamented that promotions have not been implemented since 2023 and annual salary increments have equally been stalled within the same period.
He also pointed out that underemployed teachers in Kuje Bwari and Gwagwalada have not been upgraded since 2018 while teachers under the Local Education Authority do not benefit from health insurance and welfare packages available to their counterparts in UBEB and SEB.
Haruna also drew the minister’s attention to other pressing concerns, including the Kugbo bus terminal, which was commissioned months ago but has remained non-operational. He urged the minister to ensure the facility becomes functional in order to reduce traffic congestion and improve transportation within the city.
He noted that workers’ welfare in the FCT remains a major concern as recurring strike actions by labour unions continue to disrupt activities in the capital. He called for prompt intervention through dialogue and urged the withdrawal of court cases against workers as a way to achieve amicable resolutions.
Haruna expressed concern over the prolonged JOHESU strike, which has lasted more than eighty days, and appealed for urgent action to address the grievances of health workers, primary school teachers, and area council employees in order to avert further industrial unrest.
He also highlighted environmental challenges, particularly the growing piles of refuse along Karu and the Nyanya Karshi road, and appealed for immediate government action to address waste management and other public service concerns.
Despite the grievances, Haruna commended the minister for ongoing infrastructure development in the Federal Capital Territory and assured him of the continued support of teachers in efforts to make Abuja a better and more functional city.
