The National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja has issued a sweeping interim injunction restraining the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and several union leaders from embarking on any protest or industrial action in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), a development that intensifies an already tense stand-off between labour unions and the federal authorities.
Delivering the ruling on Monday, Justice Emmanuel Subilim granted the ex parte application filed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA). The suit, marked NICN/ABJ/30/26 and filed through Senior Advocate of Nigeria James Onoja (SAN) on behalf of the claimants, sought urgent judicial intervention to prevent what the government described as an unlawful mobilisation by labour unions in the nation’s capital.
Under the order, the court restrained the NLC and TUC, their agents or privies, from “embarking on any form of industrial action or protest” within the FCT pending further hearing and determination of the motion on notice. Also restrained were the unions’ spokesperson, Benson Upah, the TUC General Secretary Nuhu Toro, and the Chairman of the FCT NLC, Stephen Knabayi.
Justice Subilim further directed security agencies, named as the 5th to 9th defendants, to ensure there is no breakdown of law and order in the nation’s capital in the interim.
In court documents, the FCT Minister and his administration told the judge that the Chairman of the FCT Council had circulated a mobilisation message to union members and affiliates for a mass protest slated for Tuesday, February 3, 2026, alleging the action flouted a subsisting court order.
According to the claimants, following an interlocutory ruling on January 27, 2026, which the unions were served with, the NLC and TUC issued a statement directing their affiliated unions to intensify and sustain their ongoing strike action, even as their counsel Femi Falana, SAN, was said to be appealing the January ruling.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration also told the court that the Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC) subsequently issued a circular instructing workers to continue with industrial action, which the claimants argued was aimed at bringing government functions to a standstill.
In an affidavit supporting the application, the claimants said that on January 19, 2026, workers employed by the FCTA under the umbrella of JUAC had initiated industrial action by locking entrances to offices, including the FCTA Secretariat, closing schools and shutting down departments, effectively bringing government work to a halt in the territory.
They asserted that these actions compelled them to seek judicial redress. The January 27 interlocutory order reportedly restrained the unions and their affiliates from further industrial action and directed the workers to resume work pending the substantive suit’s outcome.
Nevertheless, the claimants said, the unions issued directives to resume and sustain the strike contrary to the court’s prohibition, and the FCT NLC chairman’s mobilisation for the February 3 protest exacerbated their concerns.
Following the ruling, the court adjourned the matter until February 10, when the motion on notice filed by the FCT Minister and the FCTA will be heard. Until then, the interim order remains in effect, barring the unions and their listed leaders from carrying out the planned protest or any industrial action within the Federal Capital Territory.
