*Accuse Wike Of Sundry Anti-Service Delivery Actions
*Vow To Shut Minister’s Office Gate Thursday
*Mum’s The Word From Wike
By our reporter
Irate workers of Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Monday made good their threat to kick off a three-day protest over poor service conditions imposed on them by the administration of FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
The workers warned that if at the end of the protest tomorrow (Wednesday), and the administration fails to negotiate or accede to their demands, then they will be compelled to declare total industrial disharmony and lock the gate leading to the Minister’s Office, even at the risk of their lives.
The staff members said they had endured so much unprecedented pain and avoidable suffering since Wike assumed office in 2023, stressing that they had never had it so bad.
They, however,warned the Minister to beware because equating FCT to Rivers State, where he was a governor before the current Ministerial appointment, “would be a great mistake; the nation’s capital with its wide population, peculiar characters and social mix, is not, and can never be handled, like Rivers State.”
They bellyached that staff members had not enjoyed any promotions or training since Wike became Minister, resulting in career and salary stagnation “even as the Minister continues to not deny himself and his cronies of the best that FCTA can offer.”
Furthermore, the employees claimed that Wike has, since December 2024, not paid the statutory overhead, a necessary funding item under recurrent expenditure which enables directors and heads of departments to run offices on a day-to-day basis for efficient and effective service delivery.
Reeling out a lengthy list of demands which non-implementation by the Wike administration,they claimed, had negated President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the workers vowed to fight on till the Minister reverses all.
Operating under the umbrella of their Joint Union Action Committee (JUAC) and bearing placards with inscriptions such as “No promotions since 2023,2024,2025″, “No training and retraining since 2023” and others, the employees expressed great frustration over what they described as Wike’s disdain for their welfare and lack of leadership.
Minister Wike Long Inaccessible To Us -JUAC Chair
Speaking to newsmen, Chairperson of JUAC, Mrs. Rifkatu Iortyer, revealed several attempts to reach Wike since 2023 by official correspondence and personal contact to iron out workers’ grievances, alleging that the efforts were to no avail as no response was received.
Years down the line, the labour leader pointed out, the situation had deteriorated to an unbearable level.
She said:”Our members are suffering. We have tried all civil means since to engage the Honourable Minister, but he has ignored our concerns.
“We are giving the FCT Administration a three-day ultimatum to act or face more decisive actions.”
We’re Ready To Die, Ex-NUJ Chair Vows
Another staff member, who was a labour leader, Dr Nnachi Okafor, while fielding questions from journalists, lamented the new situation under Wike where staff members go from office to office, cap in hand, begging for just a sheet of paper to write official memos.
An angry-looking Dr Okafor, who was FCTA Chapel Secretary, then Chairman, of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), expressed frustration that a major FCTA agency, the Abuja Environment Protection Board (AEPB) cannot properly deliver on its mandate of cleaning the streets of the nation’s capital because of lack of relevant funds to do so.
“AEPB cannot clean the streets. Staff now go from one office to another looking for just a sheet of paper to do a memo,” he stated.
Alleging that Wike routinely cares mostly for the security personnel around him, the ex-NUJ leader declared that “So, we said enough is enough.Today is the first salvo. Tomorrow will be the second salvo. Wednesday will be the last salvo. On Thursday, we’ll lock his gate. Let’s see him bring his security, we’re ready to die.”
‘ He Is A Disaster To Staff, Not A Blessing’
The tales of woe were not very yet.
One of the staff members, captured in a video by News Central , said: “Wike is not a blessing to us, rather he’s a disaster to those of us staff in the FCT here.
“We now receive our salaries on the 5th or 6th day of the following month. It has never been this bad.”
‘ He’s Constructing Roads Only In The City, Visit Satellite Towns, See A Different Story’
Another protester told People&Politics : ”This Minister is only interested in demonstrating to Tinubu that he’s working, via construction of roads and bridges mainly inside Federal Capital City Abuja. The place was already long built up before he became FCT Minister.
“Why not use all that money to also build up the neglected satellite towns and villages? Go to towns like Nyanya, Gwagwalada, Abaji, Bwari, Kwali, you’ll weep at the state of roads there.
“Why not deploy the money to these towns,talk less of villages where many residents still drink water with cattle from ponds and streams? Is the Minister saying he doesn’t get reports on the below 17th century living conditions of those residents? Yet, for reasons known and acceptable to only him, he concentrates 95% of his infrastructure developments only inside Abuja City. How many FCT residents, workers, business persons or others live inside the city?
“Before he came as FCT Minister, overhead was a given every month and SDAs were performing optimally. Since he came and it first became epileptic, then totally stopped since December 2024, most SDAs in FCTA are literally dead. Please, civil society, investigative journalists, accountability lawyers and other groups should probe and let the world know the whereabouts of these monies which non-payment has stunted the full delivery of Mr President’s Renewed Hope Agenda in FCT. Or is the Agenda only limited to City roads and bridges?
“The monies are probably being kept safe somewhere, but now is the time to release them in full, and with arrears, to SDAs to work with.”
There was no word yet from the Minister’s Office on the protest and the remarks by various speakers even as the protest enters day two today.
