The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, has resolved the protracted disputes between the six Area Councils and the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT).
Wike also disclosed that the dispute between the councils and the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) was equally resolved.
The minister disclosed this during a security meeting with the FCT Council of Chiefs in Abuja on Wednesday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the FCT wing of the NUT, on Jan. 15, directed primary school teachers in the FCT to begin an indefinite strike.
The strike was a continuation of an earlier one suspended by the union in 2023 over non-payment of a 40 per cent peculiar allowance and 25 months of minimum wage arrears, among other issues.
The NUT suspended the strike on October 2, 2023, to allow for the resolution of the issues within six weeks, which was not achieved.
On the other hand, NULGE had equally drawn battle lines with the area councils’ chairmen over similar entitlements, including hazard allowance and pension, among other unresolved issues.
Earlier, the Chairman, FCT Council of Chiefs, and Ona of Abaji, Alhaji Adamu Yunusa, appealed to the minister to wade into the crisis, lamenting that children were wasting away at home due to the ongoing strike.
Announcing the resolution of the disputes, the minister said that the FCTA would settle 40 per cent each of the debt owed to the striking teachers and local government employees.
He added that the area councils, on their part, would settle the remaining 60 per cent respectively.
“I met with NUT and the area council chairmen. So, what we’ve done is, that FCTA has come in to take 40% of the debt owed by the area councils, while the councils will pay the remaining 60%.
“The same with NULGE; FCTA has taken 40 per cent, let them (area councils) pay the remaining 60 per cent.
“We will be paying every month, and in the next three to four months, we will finish settling the debt,” the minister said.
When contacted, the NUT State Secretary, Mrs Margaret Jethro, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), adding that Wike had met with the leaders of the union last week.
Jethro told NAN that Wike had promised that the FCT Administration would settle 40 per cent of the over N7 billion in minimum wage arrears the councils owed the teachers.
She, however, said that no resolution was reached on the over N8 billion 12-month Peculiar Allowance debt, which was also presented to the minister for his intervention.
She added that the leadership of the NUT would meet with the teachers to present the offer and then decide whether to suspend the strike or not. (NAN)
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