The Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to end the ongoing strike by workers in the six Area Councils or resign from office.
In a statement signed by its Executive Director, Dr. Ibrahim Zikirullahi, CHRICED expressed “profound outrage” over the lingering industrial action, which began on March 24, 2025.
The strike, the group said, has crippled essential services across the FCT, shutting down 607 public primary schools and 239 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs).
“This dereliction of governance has plunged the FCT’s most vulnerable populations — children, pregnant women, the elderly, and the poor — into a state of crisis,” Zikirullahi said. “In a country where 10.2 million children are already out of school and maternal mortality is alarmingly high, the implications are catastrophic.”
The strike, CHRICED explained, resulted from the failure of Area Council Chairmen to implement a tripartite agreement reached in December 2024, which included paying the ₦70,000 minimum wage and clearing longstanding salary arrears. The refusal to honour the agreement, it noted, amounts to “a betrayal of public trust and a blatant violation of workers’ rights.”
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The organisation also took aim at Minister Wike’s public stance that the Area Councils fall outside his jurisdiction. “This is a disingenuous deflection,” Zikirullahi argued. “As Minister of the FCT, Wike is the de facto Governor of the territory. His refusal to act decisively is a gross abdication of duty.”
CHRICED demanded that the Minister immediately convene a high-level emergency meeting with Area Council Chairmen and labour leaders, publish details of disbursed funds, and take full responsibility for resolving the crisis.
“If Minister Wike fails to act within seven days, he should resign from office in honour and shame,” CHRICED warned.
The group also condemned the silence of the FCT’s representative in the Senate, Senator Ireti Kingibe, saying she has failed to speak out or take meaningful action. “A representative who cannot defend the welfare of her constituents in times of crisis is derelict in her legislative mandate,” the statement read.
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CHRICED called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene directly, warning that the prolonged shutdown of schools and health centres in Nigeria’s capital is “an international embarrassment and a betrayal of the Renewed Hope Agenda.”
“No infrastructure project, no matter how grand, can compensate for the collapse of education and healthcare,” the group emphasized.
The statement concluded with a rallying call to civil society, labour unions, and traditional institutions to defend the constitutional rights of FCT residents. “The right to education and healthcare is not a privilege — it is a constitutional guarantee and must be defended by all means necessary. Enough is enough. The time to act is now.”