According to the unions, such claims are misleading and do not reflect the true content of the court proceedings.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) trade unions have declared that their ongoing strike action remains firmly in place.
The unions insisted that the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, did not obtain any court order restraining the trade unions themselves from embarking on industrial action.
In a statement explaining the legal position surrounding the case at the National Industrial Court (NIC), the unions stressed that “Minister Wike did not sue the striking trade unions at the national industrial court. He only sued two union leaders in their personal capacity.”
The unions further stated, “Today, Mr. Wike obtained an order of interlocutory injunction against the two individual union leaders and not against the striking trade unions. So our strike continues.”
SaharaReporters learnt that the clarification became necessary following claims in some quarters that the court had halted the ongoing industrial action by workers in the FCT.
According to the unions, such claims are misleading and do not reflect the true content of the court proceedings.
A court document seen by SaharaReporters shows that the suit, filed before the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Abuja Judicial Division, is between: Hon. Minister, Federal Capital Territory and Federal Capital Territory Administration as Claimants, and Rifkatu Iortyer and Abdullahi Umar Saleh as Defendants.
The document, dated Tuesday, 27th January, 2026, and signed by the Registrar, indicates that the application before the court was for “an Order of injunction to restrain the Defendants in the manner sought on the face of the Motion paper.”
In the order issued by the court, Justice E. D. Subilim granted “AN ORDER OF INTERLOCUTORY INJUNCTION,” restraining the Defendants/Respondents and others described in the order from further embarking on industrial action, strike, picketing, lock-out, or other forms of disruption against the Claimants.
The order states in part that those restrained include “the Defendants/Respondents, their agents, privies, representatives, assigns or whatsoever and however called, together with all other members of the Joint Unions Action Committee comprising all Trade Union involving employees of the 2nd Claimant headed by the 1st Claimant.”
It further lists prohibited actions to include “actions aimed at crippling operation, blocking roads, obstructing the flow of vehicular movement, shutting down operations Claimants/Applicants, or by any means frustrating the businesses/activities of the 2nd Claimants/Applicants, of which the 1st Claimant is the presiding Minister.”
The order is to “remain in full force and effect pending the hearing and final determination of the Originating Summons filed in this suit.”
However, the FCT Trade Unions insist that, despite the wording of the order, the fundamental fact remains that the case was instituted against only two individuals and not against the trade unions as legal entities.
According to the unions, the two named Defendants were sued in their personal capacities, meaning that no legally binding restraining order currently exists against the unions or the collective workforce in the FCT.
They maintain that workers across the territory should not be intimidated or misled into suspending the industrial action on the basis of what they describe as a misinterpretation of the court process.
The unions reaffirmed their position that the strike will continue until their demands are met, adding that any attempt to present the court order as a blanket injunction against all FCT workers is inaccurate.
The case has been adjourned to March 25, 2026, for Motion on Notice.