The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday declared his willingness to engage in dialogue with striking workers of the FCT Administration, even as he warned that blackmail and intimidation will not succeed.
This comes after the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, sitting in Abuja, granted an interlocutory injunction filed by Wike and the FCT Administration, compelling workers under the Joint Union Action Committee to suspend their ongoing strike.
Despite the court order, the workers insisted on staying home, saying they are no longer officially on strike but will not resume duties.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, Wike said, “We have been disposed to dialogue and like I told you they met with the management and what are the issues, we have tackled them before. They would say no problem and nothing would happen but before you know it they would go and do a different thing.
“If they say genuinely we have seen what has happened, then we will talk. But if it’s on blackmail and intimidation, I will not agree. If you like, go and hire all the civil servants in the world, it’s not my business.”
The strike, now in its [insert number of days if known] day, has disrupted operations across the FCT Administration, highlighting growing tensions between workers and management.
