As tension mounts over unpaid salaries of primary school teachers and council responsibilities, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has advocated for legislative support to amend law governing area council allocations, saying the current framework is no longer sustainable for delivering essential services.
Wike said the current funding model has made it difficult for councils to meet rising obligations, including the payment of salaries to primary school teachers and health workers under the new minimum wage.
Speaking during a media interaction with journalists, he noted that the area councils are overwhelmed by salary burdens and cannot meet demands without intervention.
The former Rivers governor said that although the FCT administration has intervened to prevent strikes and restore stability, long-term solutions can only come through amendments backed by the National Assembly.
“We are not the ones owing these teachers, it’s the area councils. But when the children are out of school, nobody asks who is responsible. Everybody blames the FCT administration,” the minister said.
He explained that due to the legal structure of the FCT, he lacks the authority to withhold or reallocate council funds without legislative backing, yet had to take extraordinary steps under public pressure.
“Do you know what is even illegal to what I’ve done, by seizing the 10% IGR of the area council May and June, I said don’t give to them, let’s calculate it, how much it is, let’s see how much we can put in,” he stated.
“If we follow the way it should be, you know what I did is not constitutional. However, this is where public interest overrides, the minister told newsmen on Thursday.
According to him, the FCT receives only one percent of the federal allocation, an amount he described as grossly insufficient to cover a monthly wage bill of nearly ₦13 billion for about 50,000 staff in Abuja.
Wike also criticized what he described as an unrealistic approach by striking teachers and labour unions, urging them to acknowledge the financial realities facing area councils.
“I said allow them to pay in phases, they said no they want it in arrears. Do you know how much their taking about?? 18 billion I said look it’s not in doubt, Some of the demands are even outrageous,” he added.
He argued that Nigeria’s system of imposing a uniform minimum wage across states and councils, without regard for local revenue capacity, is a fundamental problem in the country’s federalism.
“You fix a minimum wage without checking how much these councils receive. How will they survive?” Wike asked. “Let them negotiate based on their financial realities. This one-size-fits-all doesn’t work.”
The minister further stated that the situation has prompted engagement with FCT council chairmen and representatives to draft a proposal for legal amendments.
“They’ve all agreed we need to change the law. That’s the only way we’ll reduce this kind of crisis in the future,” he said.
“We need to review in terms of allocation, you see when you see in most states sometimes when you say states are tampering with local govt. Funds it’s because of the primary school teachers and health workers.
“But they don’t want anything that would make teachers to seat at home so it gives room to interfere in local govt allocations.
“People don’t even understand the full scenario. And some are even asking why did you lock up FCT, why not go to the area council and knock. When you’re not under me, so why did you come here to knock the gate and carry children to cry and I said pls don’t bother me.
The former Rivers governor also took a swipe at critics who condemned his naming of the International Conference Centre (ICC) after President Bola Tinubu amid economic hardship.
“What does hunger have to do with naming the ICC?” he asked. “Should we name it after armed robbers instead? We’ve named roads after presidents before, IBB, Yar’Adua, Goodluck. Why is Tinubu’s own different?”
“It’s only when the person dies, we will like to remember the dead but we don’t want to remember people who are alive, who are putting all their energy to make sure the country gets better, it’s only when they die, I will not do that.
“Let’s recognise people that are doing what they are elected for, what do you loose that the ICC was named after him.
