The National Industrial Court, Abuja, has ordered workers under the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to immediately call off their ongoing strike and return to their duty posts.
The court, in a verdict given by Justice Emmanuel Subilim, based its conclusion on the fact that permitting workers to engage in an industrial action while the facts of the case are already awaiting judicial attention amounted to self-help.
The court stated that, while the FCT labor force has the constitutional right to engage in industrial action, this right is limited.
Referring to Section 18(1)(b) of the Trade Dispute Act, Justice Subilim emphasized that in a trade dispute, workers may not go on strike over a matter previously referred to the Industrial Court for adjudication.
He ruled that in a situation where the workers had already commenced a strike over a matter that is in court, such action must cease.
As a result, the court ordered the protesting workers to immediately halt their strike and return to work.
The verdict came in response to a lawsuit filed by the FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, and the FCTA.
Rifkatu Iortyer and Abdullahi Saleh, president and secretary of the Joint Union Action Congress (JUAC), were named as defendants in the NICN/ABJ/17/2026 case.
The workers had engaged in an industrial action over alleged unresolved welfare issues they said included a backlog of five months of unpaid salary and long-outstanding promotion arrears, as well as bad working conditions in the FCT.
