Not a few residents of the FCT were taken aback as workers of the six Area Councils of the territory, under the umbrella of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), FCT chapter, continued the indefinite strike over non-implementation of the new minimum wage.
Our reporters, who visited the various council secretariats to assess the effect of the strike, witnessed how visitors to the secretariats were prevented from accessing the premises, as all doors of the secretariats were shut.
Senior special adviser on media and publicity to the chairman of Gwagwalada area council, Usman Babalado, told LEADERSHIP in a telephone interview that the union has directed its members to stay at home until their demands were met .
Babalado revealed that the union had earlier written a memo to the FCTA to intimate it of the union’s challenges and plans, adding that the area council chairmen were currently holding meeting with the FCT minister, Muhammad Musa Bello, to chart the way forward.
Our reporter also gathered that the state president of NULGE, Abubakar Alhassan Yakub, had on Sunday this week, through a circular submitted to the six area councils, directed staff of the area councils to commence an indefinite strike to press home their demand for the implementation of the new minimum wage since 2019.
In the letter, signed by the FCT state secretary of NULGE, Comrade Abdullahi Yahaya, which was made available to our reporter, the union stated that the strike action would only be suspended if the minimum wage and arrears were paid.
BY BLESSING BATURE-AKPAKPAN, CECILIA OGEZI AND IGHO OYOYO
