By Stanley Onyekwere
Workers of Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) under the Joint Union Action Congress (JUAC) have appealed to FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike for urgent action on the absence of a financial threshold for Permanent Secretaries (PS) and Heads of Secretariats, Departments and Agencies (SDAs) and other long-standing issues troubling the workforce.
Also, the workers who condemned elongation of tenure for some retired FCTA directors and PS, stressed the need for the Minister to settle unresolved welfare issues affecting their morale and productivity.
They equally condemned the non-payment of officers of the Abuja Environment Protection Board (AEPB) and Social Development Secretariat (SDA) engaged to enforce laws and policies.
The President of the union, Mrs Rifkatu Iortyer, made the appeal at a news briefing in Abuja.
Iortyer explained that the goal of the news conference was to draw the attention of the FCT Administration to the long-standing issues troubling workers across Secretariats, Departments and Agencies (SDAs) of the FCT Administration.
She identified some of the concerns as non-remittance of pension and National Housing Funds deductions; no payments or overheads, and unlawful restriction and centralisation of salary preparation and payment.
“We demand that all salary desk officers in the various SDAs be allowed to prepare salaries of their respective SDAs.
“We demand the immediate removal of these officers and their replacement with qualified and deserving officers,” Iortyer said,
She also listed other concerns as the non-payment of outstanding wage award, unpaid promotion arrears, poor working conditions and staff intimidation and lack of training and retaining.
The president added that the workers also rejected the mass failure recorded in the 2024 promotion examination and demanded its reversals.
“These issues are not new but they have been festering for far too long, causing undue hardship and frustration to the very individuals who have dedicated their lives to serving this nation.
“We demand immediate action on these issues and we will continue to raise our voices until these issues are addressed.
“We are not just fighting for the rights of workers, but for the future of the FCT Administration and our nation,” the president said. NAN
