Ever since the present Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike became the governor of Rivers State, he has become synonymous with stirring up controversies and projecting an image of dominance and political invincibility. But the recent strike by FCT workers has finally humbled him and forced him to climb down his high horse by eating the humble pie.
After several other strikes by teachers and medical workers over unpaid salaries and hostile working conditions were ignored by the minister, who pretended they didn’t matter, the entire workers last month downed tools.
After several threats and ultimatums fell on deaf ears with the system completely grounded, he rushed to the Industrial court to obtain an interim order to compel the workers back to work, which worked momentarily as the workers returned to their office while the legal counsel, led by Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, moved to the Court of Appeal to vacate the order, which again empowered the worker to resume the strike.
Defeated in his own game, and having both the Nigeria Labor Congress, and the Trade Union Congress backing the action, Wike, for the first time since becoming governor 10 years, bowed to the workers and agreed to negotiate, leading to the suspension of the strike.
Harvest of Controversies
As a PDP governor, he ran his predecessor, Rotimi Amechi, who was then minister of Transport in the APC government of late Buhari out of town and ensure he had no breathing space in the state.
Later, the issue of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) began and threatened its collapse at the Jos convention, Wike led a group that eventually rescued the party, and subsequently became a major and dominant factor. He had sacked and enthroned three chairmen of the party, from Uche Secundus, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu to Amb. Damagun.
Things came to a head in the run-up to the 2023 presidential election during which he led the G5 Governors, to oppose his own party’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to support President Bola Tinubu of APC to ensure the a southerner became president.
Atiku defeated in him the primary of the party and got the ticket of the PDP to contest the 2023 presidential race.
Worse still for him, he was passed over for the vice presidential candidate, which he had hoped seriously to get
The loyalty of the group to President Tinubu eventually paid off handsomely for Wike, who was made the Minister of the FCT, where he took his notoriety to new level by working hard to please the president.
As soon as he became the minister, another controversial crisis erupted in Rivers against him and his former aide Siminayi Fubara, now the governor, just like what happened between him and Ameachi.
He installed Fubara, but he too, stood his grounds that Wike could not control him, pitching him against the House of Assembly, which is controlled by Wike
Control of Rivers, PDP
.
The controversy between them dragged for almost two years, until it eventually led to the declaration of emergency and the suspension of Fubara and the Assembly for six months.
Despite Fubara”s reinstatement, the crisis and controversies in their relationships are still glaringly unresolved.
Still the problem in PDP
continued to persist over its control, which led to the emergence of two executive committees with two different chairmen and General Secretaries. A part led by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state, and another led by him, Wike, each backed by a court order.
Mother of All Strikes
The strike was really a paid back time for Wike who had stepped on many big toes in the FCT over land issues, most of which he either revoked or reallocated, leading in one case to a famous confrontation between him and Lt. Comdr. Yerima. The strike, therefore, had many supporters among the FCT population.
It was argued that the incident also caught him off balance, as he never expected it. Sources hinted that his experience as a former governor, who had fought many battles including workers, didn’t bargain with the resolute position of the workers, and alleged that they were people loyal to his enemies and politically motivated to humiliate him as an “arrogant and uncompromising person.”
The protest got out of hand when workers holding placards shouting “Wike must go” made him flee for his dear life, as the workers were ready to hunt him down, if he had been spotted, after locking him out of the office.
Also, the strike paralysed both economic and administrative activities across the FCT, which people said got Wike worried that this could collapsed sternly accused his political enemies of masterminding and orchestrating the strike, when it got to its seventh day.
Their demands included the payment of five months outstanding wage awards, stalled promotions, non-payment of promotion arrears, and the alleged failure to remit pension contributions and National Housing Fund deductions since May 2025.
The workers also complained that the welfare across FCTA departments, agencies, and boards has collapsed under the watchful eyes of Wike
However, in a statement endorsing the protest, NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, described the workers’ action as justified, accusing the FCTA management of deploying what he termed “fascistic tactics aimed at crushing workers’ solidarity and silencing dissent.
After the NIC ruling, it was resolved at the Industrial Dispute meeting that workers should go back to work to end the strike, which started on January 19, 2026, when workers under the Joint Union Action Committee (JUAC) launched an indefinite strike.
The Minister had said, on humanitarian ground, assured the unions that no worker would face victimisation for participating in the strike. Other agreements are as follow: “that All outstanding cases related to the dispute currently before the National Industrial Court (NIC) are to be withdrawn.
“Also a commitment was made to maintain mutual respect and regular dialogue between the FCT administration and organised labour moving forward.
“On the Industrial harmony, the agreement, which ended the strike is expected to restore essential services across the FCT’s secretariat and departments, aligning the interests of the workforce with the administrative goals of the FCTA.
In a telephone chat with the Business Hallmark, a renowned Labour and Industrial reporter and now analyst, on Labour and Industrial matters, Alhaja Kudrat Apapa, said the industrial action by the FCTA Workers was justified because workers were being taken for granted in Nigeria, a situation, which she said has never been good for industrial harmony.
She pointed out that the Wike should have known that not attending to the welfare of workers in the nation’s Federal capital, would add to his many controversies and project him and Nigeria in bad light.
“Abuja is like a mirror where people look at Nigeria because international activities that bring people from all over the world are held there and you can imagine if one of such events had fallen into the period when the whole city was grounded due to industrial actions by workers over their poor welfare conditions. That would have been too bad for the image of Nigeria,” she argued.