Court To Deliver Ruling Today In FCTA Vs JUAC Strike Case

The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Abuja has scheduled a ruling for today (Tuesday) in the suit filed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and the FCT Administration (FCTA) against the Joint Union Action Committee (JUAC) over a prolonged strike that has paralysed key government offices in the capital.

Naijaonpoint reports that the matter was adjourned after counsel for both sides concluded arguments on Monday before Justice E.D. Subilim.

In suit number NICN/ABJ/17/2026, the FCTA named JUAC Chairman Rifkatu Iortyer and Secretary Abdullahi Umar Saleh as defendants, seeking an interlocutory injunction to bar the union from further industrial action, picketing, or lockouts.

The strike began last Monday after the expiration of a seven‑day ultimatum and has since disrupted activities across major FCTA offices, including the FCTA Secretariat, where security operatives were deployed to limit access.

While the FCTA management claims that most worker demands have been addressed, JUAC insists that “core issues remain unresolved.”

At the hearing on Monday, counsel for the workers’ union, Maxwell Opara, urged the court to dismiss the reliefs sought by the FCTA, arguing that the motion, if granted, would amount to deciding the substantive case at the interlocutory stage.

Citing the Supreme Court decision in Opara Agwu & Anor v. Julius Berger Plc, Opara warned that ordering workers back to work “while salaries remained unpaid was risky.”

He also urged the court to consider compelling the FCT minister to attend arbitration on the matter.

After listening to submissions from both sides, Justice Subilim adjourned the matter to January 27 for ruling on the injunction application.

Following court proceedings, counsel for the claimants, James Onoja (SAN), told journalists that the defendants lacked “juristic personality.”

He argued that JUAC was neither recognised under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) nor the Trade Union Act, making the body illegal.

He said, “The people who called the strike are an illegal body. JUAC is not registered under the Trade Union Act, and because of that, they cannot call a strike. So, this strike is illegal. That is our contention, and that is what we are arguing before the court.

“The most important thing is that we are talking about a government that is ready to listen. The mediation was going on, and they came to court, and then there are processes to be followed before you declare a strike. That process was not followed.”

Opara, on his part, said the union had written 11 letters to the minister, outlining its grievances and calling for mediation, arguing that the matter should have been referred for alternative dispute resolution.

“This time he (Wike) is wasting in court trying to intimidate workers, is it not enough to talk to workers? So, we established before the court that we expected them to apply that the court should refer this matter to mediation. But they were interested in calling off the strike. And we are now saying that if you call off the strike, you want an angry, hungry man to go and start up work? That is even more dangerous,” he said.

Asked why the defendants sought to join the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress in the suit, Opara responded, “If you watch the process, it is only the President of JUAC and the Secretary in person. They did not even sue them as the president or secretary; they just sued them.”

“So, the implication is that, if the court orders that the strike should be called off, the order is only binding on two persons. And in our counter-affidavit, we established the fact that they are under Labour and TUC. And we are saying that Labour and TUC, if you watched a couple of days ago, they issued a press statement, giving directives that other affiliated bodies should join in a solidarity strike. And we are saying that it is proper for us to join them because they are necessary parties,” Opara argued.