It started as a joke, but it has turned to a handshake beyond the elbow. For three months running now, the public schools in the FCT have been on locks and keys courtesy of the six Area Councils chairmen.
The chairmen have refused to yield to pleas to pay the minimum wage to their workers especially the teachers.
The chairmen are claiming the bill is beyond their capabilities. As such, they submitted that to pay the minimum wage of #70, 000 would suffocate them financially.
FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has however intervened twice, releasing funds to them, and despite this they still remained adamant.
But it is not only the minimum wage, the teachers are asking for , they are insisting that arrears since last year must be paid before they can go back to the classroom.
While the Council chairmen are toying with the academic futures of these children, they are daring Wike as they have refused to budge and by this action some parents considered it as affront on Wike.
The Council chairmen have repeatedly told those who cared to listen that they don’t have the wherewithal to meet the new minimum wage bill.
Wike’s administration, in the meantime has intervened on several occasions to resolve the indefinite strike by primary school teachers and healthcare workers, who were simply demanding the implementation of the new national minimum wage and payment of outstanding arrears.
The efforts by the FCTA however demonstrate Wike’s commitment to addressing the challenges faced by workers and residents in the Area Councils. Some activists, unions and parents have continued to protest and push for further action by the Minister.
Concerned about the plight of these pupils,
Nyesom Wike, has released N4,166,194,061.25 to the six Area Councils.
But instead of utilizing the funds to do the needful the Council chairmen, were alleged to have pocketed the money as no trace of what they have done with the money.
Despite this help by the Minister and in spite of several meetings with stakeholders, the chairmen insisted that they cannot afford the huge bills that will come out of paying the arrears not to talk about the new minimum wage.
Out of the six Councils only two have succumbed to pressure and have agreed to pay. But they are mute on payment of arrears since last year.
But the teachers through their union, Nigeria Union of Teachers, are insisting that it goes beyond effecting the minimum wage, and that arrears being owed them must be settled before they can call of the strike action.
“Teachers are also demanding payment of outstanding arrears; just as unions are also pushing for improved service conditions.”
The FCT chapter of the NUT has maintained it’s stand while the Council chairmen also maintained theirs saying they can’t pay.
The NUT revealed that the sum of N4.1 billion released by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, for the implementation of the national minimum wage in the six Area Councils was allegedly diverted by the Council chairmen.
Treasurer of the FCT chapter of the NUT, Emmanuel Ameh, made this allegation during an interview on Arise News.
He said the Area Council chairmen claimed the money was meant for “signature allowance” and not for settlement of any wage bill.
And funnily the chairmen have not been able to explain what ‘signature allowance ‘ is all about.
Ameh explained that upon meeting the Minister of the FCT, Wike in his concern for the pupils, promised to pay the outstanding amount.
According to him, Wike redeemed the promise the next day, and the money was released to the Area Council Chairmen, who were naturally expected to effect the payment.
The FCT NUT treasurer said the chairmen, after collecting the money, refused to pay the teachers, and when the matter was brought before the National Assembly Committee on FCT, the council bosses lied and told the lawmakers the money was for “signature allowance.”
“We’ve taken this matter to his office [Minister of FCT] several times and at one point in the course of the ongoing strike that began on the 24th of March, 2025, the Minister asked us why we shut down schools; we said minimum wage of 2024 has not been implemented and the Area Councils said they don’t have money to do that.
“He said ‘okay, union leaders, go and come back the next day’. When we returned the next day, the Permanent Secretary (Treasury) told us that the Minister had just approved N4.1 billion for the implementation of this minimum wage and we were glad.
They did not implement that and that dragged us to the National Assembly, particularly, the committees on salary and FCT which invited us and asked what was the problem and we explained our predicament to them.
“And the council chairmen, six of them were there and they asked them ‘did you receive N4.1 billion? They admitted that they received it.
“They were asked what they did with it and they said the money was not for the implementation of the national minimum wage, but a signature allowance.
“They (National Assembly committees) said, ‘what is signature allowance?’ They said that was what they were told when the money was paid into the various council accounts.”
The teachers have expressed frustration over non-payment of their entitlements, highlighting the struggle for teachers’ rights over the past two years.
Workers from the six Area Councils in the FCT have also staged protests and embarked on indefinite strikes over non-payment of minimum wage . So everything in the Area Councils are now grounded.
The consequences of their ( council chairmen) actions are that protests and strikes have paralyzed activities at the six Area Councils, affecting essential services like healthcare and education.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to mobilize its structures against the FCT Administration if the Minister fails to act and call the chairmen to order.
In spite of the threats by the organized labour,
the Minister has made significant efforts to address the Area Councils imbroglio by also warning the council bosses of dire consequence
Wike has expressed frustration over the councils’ inaction and has even threatened to withhold 10% of their Internally Generated Revenue allocation if they fail to pay the teachers. The chairmen are not bothered as they have stuck to their guns.
For now, maybe because of the various commissioning of projects executed by the FCT Administration, under Wike, FCTA has been working closely with the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, and the Nigeria Labour Congress to address the issue. Traditional institutions have also been engaged to facilitate dialogue and find solutions.
The man on the street is at a loss as to what the Council chairmen use the much revenue that are accruing into the third tier accounts.
‘Most of the projects in the six Area Councils are being executed by FCTA, so one wonders at what they do with the much money they are now getting,’ Musa Yohanna, an aggrieved parent told this reporter.
However, stakeholders are asking if the Council chairmen are not daring the FCT Minister. But hopefully the strike might be called off next week if Wike after the commissioning concentrate on the plight of these pupils and confront them frontally.
It is expected he might wedge in the big stick. And parents are indeed asking for the big stick. What ever it is, government at both the state and Councils should consider the plight of these pupils and address the issue frontally once and for all for the good of the children educational progress.
End.
Abdul wrote in from Abuja via abduljelil2001@gmail.com
