ABUJA — The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Abuja has issued an interlocutory injunction restraining the Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC) of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) from continuing industrial actions linked to its indefinite strike over unpaid promotion arrears and other entitlements.
The order, delivered Thursday, January 21, 2026, by Justice E.D. Subilim, followed an application by the FCT Minister and the FCTA, seeking to halt actions they said were capable of crippling government operations in the nation’s capital.
Under the injunction, JUAC and its officials are barred from “any further industrial action,” including picketing, lockouts, road blockades, or other conduct intended to disrupt the work of the FCTA and its agencies, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The dispute has built over weeks of negotiations and public exchanges. Workers under JUAC began an indefinite strike earlier this week, shutting offices at the FCTA Secretariat and associated services, citing unresolved welfare issues such as promotion arrears, allowances and other conditions of service.
FCTA officials, however, have maintained that many of the grievances were either already addressed or being processed. In a separate briefing earlier this week, the administration said outstanding 2023 promotion arrears worth ₦286.1 million covering 724 officers across 24 secretariats, departments and agencies had been approved in December 2025 and was being processed for payment, alongside other interventions on allowances and staff welfare.
JUAC has disputed those claims, insisting that key demands remain unmet and that government statements do not reflect the substance of negotiations held before and after the strike commenced.
In court, the FCTA’s legal team—led by Dr. Ogwu J. Onoja, SAN—argued the strike was unlawful and economically disruptive. The administration also raised a strategic legal question: whether JUAC, as an umbrella body, has the legal standing of a registered trade union under Nigeria’s trade dispute framework.
JUAC President Rifkatu Iortyer and Secretary Abdullahi Umar Saleh were absent from the proceedings, prompting Justice Subilim to approve substituted service. The court ordered that originating processes be posted at JUAC’s office at the FCTA Secretariat on Kapital Street, Area 11, Garki, and published in a national newspaper to prevent claims of lack of notice.
