The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Nyesom Wike has approached the National Industrial Court for an order to commit the striking workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to prison over their alleged disregard for the court’s directive.
The alleged disobedience of the court order by the workers followed their resumption of the strike despite an order issued on January 27 restraining the action until the determination of the suit filed against them by the FCT Minister.
To show his opposition to the workers for treating the order of the Industrial Court with levity, the FCT Minister has secured Form 48, a legal court document, which outlines the consequences of violating a court order, to be served on the striking workers.
The Form 48 was obtained by a legal luminary, Dr Ogwu James Onoja, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) of the Bar and Bench Chambers in Abuja on behalf of Wike to compel the workers to obey the court order or face imprisonment as provided by law.
The Form 48 is titled “Notice of Consequence of disobedience of order of Court” and is expected to be followed with contempt proceedings.
It reads, “Take note that unless you obey the directions contained in the order of Honourable Justice E. D Sublimi of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria delivered 27th day of January 2026, you will be guilty of the contempt of court and will be liable to be committed to prison “.
The notice of consequence of disobedience of order of Court dated January 29 was signed by the Registrar of the Industrial Court, Mr Olajide Balogun.
Justice Emmanuel Danjuma Sublimi of the National Industrial Court had on January 27 ordered workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to suspend their industrial action pending the hearing and determination of the originating summons filed against them by the FCT Minister.
The order of the judge followed an application by the FCT Minister through Ogwu James Onoja SAN in which he sought an order compelling the striking FCTA workers to resume work.
In the suit, the FCT Minister listed the President and the Secretary of the Joint Union Action Congress (JUAC), Rifkatu Iortyer and Abdullahi Umar Saleh as respondents.
Justice Sublimi had ruled that industrial action, including strikes, must be suspended once a dispute has been referred to the National Industrial Court.
Citing Section 18(1)E of the Trade Dispute Act, the court noted that the suspension ensured the dispute was properly resolved, and that ongoing strikes must stop upon the commencement of a suit by originating summons, which constitutes a referral.
The judge further stated that failure to comply with Section 18 of the Act may attract sanctions.
He emphasized that the public interest in sustaining industrial peace outweighs any inconvenience caused by suspending the strike.
However, four days after the court order was served on them, the workers have yet to comply or obey it.
Although the striking workers based their resumption of the strike on the notice of appeal filed at the Court of Appeal against the ruling of Justice Sublimi, Wike’s legal team rejected the position.
The legal team of Onoja SAN maintained that unless there is an express order staying the execution of the Industrial Court ruling, the workers have no justification to resume the strike and advised them to be law-abiding citizens avoid incurring the wrath of the court.
According to the senior lawyer in the court papers “Court orders are not made in vain. They are made to be obeyed for sanity to prevail in the society”.
It will be recalled that after granting the restraining order against the strike action, Justice Sublimi adjourned the substantive matter to March 25, 2026, for hearing.
The workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration and the Federal Capital Development Authority had on January 19 commenced an industrial action, shutting down activities across Abuja, over what they described as “unmet demands” by the Federal Government.
The strike affected all FCTA Secretariats, Departments, agencies, Area Councils and parastatals under FCTA.
