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Barrister Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has sought a National Industrial Court order to imprison workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on strike for purportedly defying a court order.

The workers’ defiance of the court order stemmed from their resumption of the strike, despite a court ruling on January 27 that prohibited striking until the resolution of the lawsuit filed against them by the FCT Minister.

The FCT Minister has obtained form 48, a legal court document outlining the consequences of violating court orders, to serve on the striking workers as a demonstration of his opposition against them for treating Industrial Court orders with levity.

Dr. Ogwu James Onoja, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) at the Bar and Bench Chambers in Abuja, acquired form 48 on Wike’s behalf to compel the workers to follow the court order or face jail time as mandated by law.

The form 48 is titled “Notice of Consequence of disobedience of order of Court” and would be followed with contempt charges.

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 “.

Mr. Olajide Balogun, the Registrar of the Industrial Court, signed the notice of consequence for disobedience to a court order dated January 29.

On January 27, Justice Emmanuel Danjuma Sublimi of the National Industrial Court ordered employees of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to halt their industrial action until the hearing and resolution of the originating summons filed against them by the FCT Minister

The Judge’s order was issued in response to a request from the FCT Minister, represented by Ogwu James Onoja SAN, who sought a court order mandating FCTA workers on strike to resume work.

The FCT Minister had identified the President and the Secretary of Joint Union Action Congress, JUAC, Rifkatu Iortyer and Abdullahi Umar Saleh, as respondents in the suit.

Justice Subilim ruled that when a dispute is referred to the National Industrial Court, any form of industrial action—including strikes—must be put on hold.

With reference to Section 18(1)E of the Trade Dispute Act, the court noted that the suspension guaranteed a proper resolution of the dispute and that ongoing strikes must cease when a suit by originating summons begins, as this constitutes a referral.

Additionally, the judge had indicated that not adhering to Section 18 of the Act could result in penalties.

He stressed that the public interest in keeping industrial peace is more significant than any inconvenience that may arise from a strike suspension.

Four days after the court order was served to them, however, the workers still have not complied with or obeyed it.

The striking workers based their return to striking on the notice of appeal submitted to the Court of Appeal regarding Justice Sublimi’s ruling, but Wike’s legal team dismissed this assertion.

Onoja SAN’s legal team asserted that without a clear court order to halt execution of the Industrial Court ruling, the workers have no grounds to resume their strike and urged them to obey the law in order to avoid provoking 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”.

After granting the restraining order against the strike action, Justice Sublimi adjourned the substantive matter to March 25, 2026, for a hearing.

On January 19, employees of the Federal Capital Territory Administration and the Federal Capital Development Authority began an industrial action, halting activities throughout Abuja due to what they called “unmet demands” from the Federal Government.

The strike impacted all Secretariats, Departments, agencies, Area Councils, and parastatals under FCTA.

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