Directors and principals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) education system have accused the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, of victimisation following their redeployment from their positions as directors and school administrators to junior secondary schools (JSS) to teach in classrooms.
According to a report Published by SAHARA REPORTERS yesterday, the affected education officers raised concerns over what they described as illegal redeployment, denial of promotions and politically motivated actions affecting teachers and school administrators.
One of the affected directors, who spoke to SaharaReporters on condition of anonymity, said about 360 education officers were affected by the development, including principals, deputy principals, deputy directors and directors.
The director, who is due to attain the age of 60 in November, described the situation as particularly troubling because some affected officers had yet to begin the process of service elongation, while others had already commenced it.
According to the director, the authorities had indicated that officers due for retirement between October and December would not be included in the process.
The director questioned the basis for redeploying serving directors, arguing that the policy allowing teachers to retire at 65 years of age or after 40 years of service did not expressly provide for the demotion of officers seeking an extension of their service.
The source said the affected officers had received their redeployment letters but were seeking a review of the decision.
The director disclosed that the relevant union had written to the FCT Head of Service, requesting his intervention in the matter.
The Sahara Reporters source said the union’s demands included the reinstatement of all redeployed directors to their former positions and a review of the promotion process for teachers and school administrators.
The director also criticized the alleged shortage of vacancies for promotion, describing the situation as unprecedented in the history of the FCT education system.
The source cited the case of a staff member who reportedly scored nearly 85 per cent in a promotion examination but was denied promotion on the grounds that no vacancy was available.
“If somebody can score 85 per cent and is still not promoted, there is something wrong,” the director said.
The source added that promotion remained one of the major benefits available to teachers, arguing that qualified personnel should not be denied career advancement because of what the source described as an unexplained lack of vacancies.
In a letter allegedly obtained by SaharaReporters, dated September 7, 2026, with reference number FCT/EDU/PS/S.2307/1/11, the Permanent Secretary of the Education Secretariat, Joy Okeke, conveyed the FCT minister’s approval for the redeployment of the affected principal to teach History at the school.
The letter, titled “Letter of Redeployment,” directed the officer to report to the school principal for further instructions, with immediate effect.
It stated that the redeployment was intended to enable the school to benefit from the officer’s wealth of experience and professional expertise accumulated over the years.
The letter also directed the officer to hand over his responsibilities to the most senior officer on or before Tuesday, September 15, 2026.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), FCT State Secretariat, has condemned the minister’s action and urged teachers to disregard a directive by the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB), asking them to ignore the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)’s instruction to embark on an indefinite strike.
In a statement, the union urged teachers in primary and secondary schools across the territory to disregard the UBEB directive and fully comply with the strike, which commenced on October 7, 2026.
The union described the NLC’s strike directive as lawful and binding, arguing that workers were entitled to participate in industrial action after the necessary procedures had been followed.