Wike seeks NASS intervention in FCT primary school teachers’ strike

…Says denying children education is like staging a coup

Omeiza Bilal

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has urged the National Assembly to intervene in the lingering strike embarked upon by primary school teachers under FCT area councils.

Wike disclosed this to newsmen on Thursday in Abuja during inspection of ongoing and completed projects billed for inauguration to mark the second-year anniversary of President Bola Tinubu in office.

He expressed concern and called on elected council chairmen and National Assembly committees on FCT area councils to step up, adding that denying children education is like staging a coup against society, disputing that the area council chairmen are not too powerful.

He said, “I don’t know what you mean by too powerful. All I would say is they were elected and they were not appointed. So, we have been talking to them to understand that, this is democracy, one thing you must know is that denying people education is like trying to say that you are causing a coup in the country or in FCT.

“But you see, the problem we have, just like what you’ve said, we have committees of the FCT, the House of Reps, and the Senate. We have chairman of the area councils. The chairman of committees of area councils, their responsibility is to oversee what the area councils are doing because the legislature of the FCT today is the National Assembly.

“That is what the chairman of House Committee of the National Assembly has to look at, the problem in the area councils. But it’s unfortunate they concentrate in just inviting minister to come and defend. I’ve never seen in my life where the minister has defended a budget and another House Committee chairman of area councils will tell another minister of state to come and present a budget.