Workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) received their January salaries last Friday, alongside the payment of one month out of the five months’ arrears owed under the Wage Award, officials have confirmed.

With the latest payment, the FCTA has now paid two months of the five-month Wage Award arrears. According to sources, the remaining three months are scheduled to be paid alongside workers’ salaries for February, March and April.

Despite this development, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is mobilising workers in other sectors for a protest scheduled for Tuesday. The planned action has raised questions, as FCTA workers—on whose behalf the protest is being organised—were reportedly at their duty posts last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and are also expected to be at work on Monday.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, spokesperson to the FCT Minister, Lere Olayinka, said FCTA workers had continued to discharge their duties despite the ongoing agitation, noting that salaries and portions of the Wage Award arrears had already been paid.

He also pointed out that more than 20 states have either stopped paying the Wage Award or failed to implement it entirely, without any comparable action from the NLC. Olayinka stressed that the FCT, which has commenced payment and cleared two months of the arrears, should not be singled out, adding that labour leaders owe Nigerians clarity on their specific demands from the FCTA.