By George Mgbeleke <\/p>\n
Sequel to National Industrial Court\u2019s ruling on the legal action filed by the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Barrister Nyesom Wike on the lingering industrial action by workers of FCTA,the Minister has warned striking staff of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to return to work or face legal consequences.<\/p>\n
The Minister issued the warning on Tuesday while briefing journalists shortly after the court\u2019s decision, insisting that the rule of law must prevail and accusing political actors of exploiting the strike for purposes unrelated to workers\u2019 welfare.<\/p>\n
Barr. Wike explained that the FCTA approached the court after concluding that the strike had been \u201chijacked by politicians\u201d, despite ongoing efforts by the administration to resolve the dispute through dialogue and attending to a substantial number of the workers’ demands.<\/p>\n
He reiterated that mediation was already under way before the industrial action escalated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe administration was already in the process of mediation when some politicians hijacked the strike,\u201d Wike said, adding that several of the demands presented by workers were \u201cfrivolous\u201d and either unreasonable or already addressed.<\/p>\n
He stressed that the FCTA had made substantial efforts to meet workers\u2019 concerns, including the payment of salaries and the introduction of reforms within the civil service. <\/p>\n
Barr Wike disclosed that more than \u20a612bn had just been approved for the payment of January salaries to FCTA workers, a move he said demonstrated the administration\u2019s commitment to staff welfare.<\/p>\n
The minister also cited improved revenue performance as evidence of reforms under his leadership, stating that the FCT had generated more than \u20a630bn in internally generated revenue (IGR), which he described as a significant increase compared with previous years.<\/p>\n
Wike urged workers to acknowledge reforms undertaken by the administration, including the establishment of the Civil Service Commission and investments in infrastructure across the territory. <\/p>\n
The Minister however, argued that inefficiencies within the public service had contributed to underdevelopment not only in the FCT but in many states across Nigeria.
\n\u201cWorkers are largely responsible for the lack of development in states, including the FCT,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Wike also dismissed claims circulating on social media that he had been forced out of his office during protests linked to the strike. <\/p>\n
He described the reports as false, saying he had merely stepped out of the office to see President Bola Tinubu off at the Airport.
\n\u201cI was never chased out of office,\u201d Wike said.<\/p>\n
Wike cartigorically warned against any further disruption of government operations, saying that attempts to lock government premises would attract severe consequences. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone who dares to lock the gates again will be made a scapegoat, because the law must be obeyed”.<\/p>\n
He further alleged that some senior officials within the civil service had played a role in sustaining the strike, claiming that certain directors were among those instigating the action. However, he said this would not deter the administration from what he described as doing the right thing.<\/p>\n
Barr Wike stressed that engagement between workers and the government did not require direct access to him personally, noting that workers\u2019 representatives had been in discussions with management throughout the dispute.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing me in person is not a right,\u201d he said.
\nThe minister concluded by warning that workers who failed to comply with the court order and resume duties from the following day would face legal action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke Sequel to National Industrial Court\u2019s ruling on the legal action filed by the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Barrister Nyesom Wike on the lingering industrial action by workers of FCTA,the Minister has warned striking staff of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to return to work or face legal consequences. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2441,1931,3152],"class_list":["post-10609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-dialogue","tag-dispute","tag-resolve"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10609"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10611,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10609\/revisions\/10611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}