The suit is over the ongoing strike that has paralysed government activities in the country's capital.
The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), Abuja Division, has fixed Tuesday (today) to deliver its ruling in a suit instituted by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) against leaders of the Joint Union Action Committee (JUAC).
The suit is over the ongoing strike that has paralysed government activities in the country's capital.
Justice E.D. Subilim adjourned the matter for ruling after listening to arguments from counsel representing both parties during proceedings on Monday.
The suit, marked NICN/ABJ/17/2026, was filed by the FCT Minister and the FCTA against the Chairman of JUAC, Rifkatu Iortyer, and its Secretary, Abdullahi Umar Saleh.
The claimants are seeking an interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants, their agents and privies from embarking on, continuing or participating in any industrial action, including picketing or lockout, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The legal battle comes amid a crippling strike action by workers of the FCTA and its agencies, which commenced last Monday following the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum issued by labour unions.
Since the strike began, activities across major FCTA offices in Abuja have ground to a halt, with key departments shut and public services disrupted.
At the FCTA Secretariat, security operatives were deployed to restrict access to the premises as workers stayed away from duty, further underscoring the scale of the shutdown.
While FCTA management has repeatedly claimed that most of the workers’ demands had been met, the Joint Union Action Committee has dismissed the assertions as misleading, maintaining that several core issues — particularly unpaid entitlements and welfare-related grievances — remain unresolved.
During Monday’s hearing, counsel for the workers’ union, Maxwell Opara, urged the court to dismiss the motion for interlocutory injunction, arguing that granting the reliefs sought by the claimants would amount to determining the substantive suit at the preliminary stage.
Opara relied on the Supreme Court decision in Opara Agwu & Anor v. Julius Berger Plc, warning that compelling workers to resume work while salaries and entitlements remained unpaid could have grave consequences.
He further urged the court to explore arbitration and compel the FCT Minister to personally attend mediation sessions to resolve the dispute.
According to him, dialogue, rather than litigation, was the appropriate route to resolving the crisis.
Justice Subilim, after taking arguments from both sides, adjourned the matter until January 27 for ruling.
Speaking to journalists after the court session, counsel for the claimants, James Onoja (SAN), argued that the defendants lacked juristic personality, insisting that JUAC was neither recognised under the Companies and Allied Matters Act nor registered under the Trade Union Act.
“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,” Onoja said.
He added that the FCTA-led administration was open to dialogue and had already initiated mediation processes before the unions resorted to industrial action.
“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,” he stated.
Reacting, Opara accused the FCT Minister of attempting to intimidate workers through the courts instead of engaging them meaningfully.
“This time he (Wike) is wasting in court trying to intimidate workers. Is it not enough to talk to workers?” Opara asked.
He disclosed that the union had written no fewer than 11 letters to the minister, outlining workers’ grievances and calling for mediation, arguing that the dispute should have been referred to alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
“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,” he said.
Opara warned that forcing workers back to work without addressing their grievances could be dangerous. “If you call off the strike, you want an angry, hungry man to go and start work? That is even more dangerous,” he added.
On the decision to seek the joinder of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in the suit, Opara explained that the claimants only sued two individuals in their personal capacity, rather than as union officers.
“If the court orders that the strike should be called off, the order is only binding on two persons,” he said.
He noted that JUAC operates under the umbrella of the NLC and TUC, both of which had issued directives for solidarity action. “They are necessary parties, and it is proper for us to join them,” he argued.