The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), FCT Council, has directed workers across the public and private sectors in the Federal Capital Territory to commence an indefinite strike over the promotion policy for FCT teachers.

The directive took effect on Wednesday following the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum issued to the FCT Administration on September 8 and what the council described as an inadequate response to its demands.

The NLC particularly faulted the requirement that teachers must wait for available vacancies before they can be promoted, describing the policy as alien to the teaching profession and responsible for years of career stagnation.

In resolutions signed by its Chairman, Comrade Knabayi Adalo, the council said teachers were neither core civil servants nor pool staff and should therefore not be subjected to vacancy-based promotion.

It maintained that teachers employed by the FCT Universal Basic Education Board and the FCT Secondary Education Board were recruited specifically to teach and should be promoted as and when due.

The council demanded the removal of the vacancy requirement for the promotion of FCT teachers and called for teachers who were due for promotion in 2025 to be allowed to sit for their promotion examinations before or alongside the 2026 candidates.

It also demanded the withdrawal of redeployment and demotion letters issued to directors who benefited from the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers Act, 2022.

The NLC further called for the immediate reinstatement of the dissolved management teams of the FCT Secondary Education Board and the Universal Basic Education Board.

In a communiqué issued after its State Executive Council meeting on Monday at the NLC FCT Secretariat, the council described the FCT Administration’s response to its ultimatum as “neither clear, positive, nor genuine.”

It said the response failed to address the vacancy clause, which it described as the “root cause of career stagnation,” and was also silent on what it called the “illegal redeployment of directors.”

The council said it would no longer tolerate what it described as the “continued dehumanisation of FCT teachers through obnoxious policies alien to the teaching profession.”

The NLC directed its affiliate unions to mobilise members for total compliance with the strike and establish enforcement committees, while ensuring that workers participating in the action were protected against victimisation.

It said schools, hospitals, government offices and other establishments in the FCT would remain shut until its demands were fully addressed.

Defending the industrial action, the council said the FCTA’s attempt to sustain industrial harmony without addressing the underlying issues was “mere wishful thinking,” stressing that “there can be no peace without justice.”

The NLC appealed to parents, civil society organisations and other well-meaning Nigerians to bear with the workers and prevail on the FCT Administration to resolve the issues.

The council maintained that the strike would remain total and indefinite until its demands were met.