- Safiu Kehinde
Staffers of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Ministry have on Monday trooped out to demand the removal of the Minister, Barrister Nyesom `Wike.
Their grouse is alleged poor conditions of service including unpaid wages, retarded promotions and general poor working conditions.
As captured in a post shared on X, the workers, under the aegis of Joint Union Action Committee (JUAC), barricaded the FCT Administration’s headquarters in agitation for their demands.
The placard wielding FCT staff were also captured in another video rendering solidarity song against Wike.
In his address to newsmen, the JUAC Chairman, Famakinwa Akinloye, disclosed that more staff will be mobilised for the protest tomorrow if the FCTA fails to respond to them.
“Th number you are seeing her today is not enough. By the time we wait for their response, and they refuse to respond, tomorrow we will be back, and this place will not contain the entire staff because we are fighting on behalf of 40,000 FCT staff and every of our demands concern every of the 40,000 staff of the FCT.
“This number of staff we see here is very encouraging. But tomorrow, we will be more than what you are seeing here today. ” He said.
While acknowledging the Wike’s performance in the infrastructural development of the capital city, Famakinwa however decried poor welfarism and plights of the FCT workers under his administration which ranged from non-promotion to non-payment of arrears.
“Commissioning projects is not a big thing in the FCT. Every Minister that has come to FCT have been commissioning projects and we have been working and performing.
“But to give it to him, he is doing well in the area of infrastructure. We are not talking about the area of infrastructures. But some of the people driving the economy, we are staff, we are the one doing the work, but we are not encouraged.
“For the past three years now, 2023, 2024, to 2025, there is no promotion and this FCT Civil Service Commission that we are talking about, we fought for it with our blood.
“By the time we realised it and it came on board, it is the Minister that is enjoying it more because he is the one bringing in all these appointees from his state and from every other places.
“What we are saying is that you are doing infrastructure, capital development, but staff of the FCT must be happy.
“Like we health workers now, he owes us 13 months arrears running to about N500,000 plus and workers are denied, and we know that the economy is very harsh. ” He said.
Wike is as Disaster rather than Blessing to us-Awonegeme
On his part, Emmanuel Awonegeme, Chairman of the Nigeria Civil Service Union (FCT Chapter), accused Wike of not been worker-friendly with many staff already dismissed under his administration while those who deserved promotion were denied.
“You can imagine there is no overhead cost. If you wan buy A4 paper now for your office, it is either the Director bring money for him pocket or we go dey find where we go go borrow paper take do work. How dem go dey say Wike works. Which kind work he work? He’s like a man wey marry wife. His wife dey hungry inside room, then he go come outside dey share money for beggars, share money for everywhere. Dem go dey shout baba mutu, baba mutu.
“Meanwhile, there is no mutu in him. Wike just come con enslave us. In fact, we regretted having him as a Minister of FCT. When he come, we think say things go better. but we never the reverse is the case.
“Even when he came they first tell us that he is not workers friendly. We say no make we dey watch am. He came, pretended as he was good initially. The only thing wey he do na him be the Civil Service Commission and the commission is not properly structured.
“The so-called Chairman of the Commission removed 700 names of workers from payroll say he don discover ghost workers. When he came, n o promotion, no salary.
“As month dey end today now, na on the 5th of 6th of next month we go collect salary. And na after we don go pressurise, don go make noise and do aluta before we begin to dey see alert.” He said.
Awonegeme highlighted the demands of the workers which include promotion from 2023 to 2025, overhead cost, and removal of overseeing Director amongst others.
He further described Wike as a disaster to the FCT workers rather than a blessing.
“There are some people that were meant to have retired as a director. But because there was no promotion, they retired as Assistant Director. What kind of a thing is that? So, Wike is not a blessing to us. Rather he is a disaster to most of us staff in FCTA here.” He said.