By Peterside Rejoice, Abuja
Daily routines in several government ministries and agencies across the Federal Capital Territory have been disrupted as over 3,000 contract cleaners engaged by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) embarked on an indefinite strike to protest the non-payment of their salaries for more than nine months.
The strike, which started on September 25, 2025, has left government offices in Abuja untidy, with piles of refuse, unwashed toilets, and littered corridors, forcing civil servants to clean their offices and toilets themselves.
Our correspondent gathered that the industrial action followed several months of unpaid wages and ignored appeals by the Association of FCT Solid Waste and Cleaning Contractors the body representing the striking workers.
Before the strike began, the contractors had written to the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), the agency responsible for managing cleaning contracts, notifying it of their intention to withdraw services if payments were not made.
In the letter seen by Premier News, the association said its members had not received any payment since January 2025 despite continuous service.
“We have reached a point where passion and commitment alone cannot sustain this essential service. Without payment, we cannot continue,” the letter read in part.
Several civil servants who spoke to Premier News described the situation as embarrassing, especially for government establishments in the heart of the nation’s capital.
“They’ve been on strike for almost three weeks now. I had to clean my office myself on Monday because the place was smelling. The truth is, they haven’t been paid for close to nine months,” a staff member who did not want his name in print said
At many offices visited, especially in the Federal Secretariat and the FCTA Secretariat, the situation has become unhygienic. Toilets are reportedly dirty, with broken sinks and overflowing dustbins.
Another staff member, identified as Joseph, said some workers now buy cleaning materials to maintain minimal hygiene.
“We can’t leave the place this dirty. Some offices have started contributing money to buy brooms, mops, and detergents. Even toilets are in bad condition water everywhere, some people don’t flush. So, we just take turns to clean,” he said.
For the striking cleaners, survival has become increasingly difficult.
One of them, identified simply as Iliya, said many of them are now indebted to landlords and have been relying on assistance from friends and family.
“They owe us for more than eight months, and the contractors themselves owe us another three months. I live in Jahi village, and my rent is N300,000 per year. I haven’t been paid since January. It’s only God that is keeping us,” she said with teary eyes.
Iliya added that despite the hardship, their monthly pay remains a meagre N20,000.
“Imagine working from morning till night for N20,000, and now they’ve not paid for almost a year. It’s painful and humiliating. We’ve protested before, but they keep making promises,” she added.
Information obtained by Premier News show that the FCTA allocated over ₦7.3 billion for environmental sanitation and facility maintenance in the 2025 budget. The revelation has sparked questions about why cleaners who form the backbone of government sanitation services have gone unpaid for so long.
Efforts to reach the Coordinator of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, Mr. Felix Obuah, proved abortive, as calls and text messages to his phone were not answered.
Similarly, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to the FCT Minister, Mr. Lere Olayinka, did not respond to messages sent to him via text and WhatsApp.
As of the time of filing this report, the strike remains in force. Many government offices across the capital city are now in an unsanitary state, raising fears of possible health hazards if the issue is not resolved soon.
