The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has granted a reprieve to 5,990 education officers in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), enabling them to sit for their 2026 promotion examinations after missing the previous exercise due to a disruption.
The examination, which commenced on October 5, 2026, entered its sixth day on Monday, with teachers and education officers from Grade Levels 13 to 17 participating.
The intervention followed appeals by affected officers and labour groups, including the Joint Union Action Committee (JUAC), the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), FCT Chapter, and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT).
The officers were unable to participate in the 2025 promotion examination after a disruption allegedly instigated by officials of the FCT wing of the NUT, who reportedly chased candidates out of the examination hall on the two days allocated to the education cadre.
While officers in other cadres of the FCTA completed their examinations, the affected education officers were left out of the exercise, prompting calls for another opportunity.
Following the appeals, Wike approved the rescheduling of the examination, allowing the affected officers to pursue their career advancement.
Speaking during an inspection of the examination venue, the Head of the FCTA Civil Service, Nancy Sabanti Nathan, expressed satisfaction with the turnout and orderly conduct of the candidates.
Nathan said the minister’s intervention had restored hope to officers who were previously denied the opportunity to sit for their examinations.
“I am so happy that they came out in this number for their examination. The last time, some of them were swept into the protest and could not write.
“But the Honourable Minister, in the spirit of the Renewed Hope Agenda, renewed their hope by approving that they should come and write the exams,” she said.
She urged the candidates to remain disciplined and take the examinations seriously, stressing that promotion was an important aspect of career progression in the public service.
Nathan, however, explained that promotion opportunities at higher grade levels were limited by the structure of the civil service, which provides fewer positions as officers advance through the ranks.
She attributed some of the constraints to the implementation of the harmonised retirement age for teachers, which extended their years of service by five years and reduced the number of vacancies created through retirement over the past four years.
Despite the limitations, she said opportunities remained available at lower cadres, adding that promotions would be determined by candidates’ performance and available vacancies.
The Head of Service further disclosed that the participating education officers would return to their respective schools after completing the examinations.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the FCT Civil Service Commission, Emeka Ezeh, confirmed that approximately 5,990 education officers were participating in the current phase of the promotion exercise.
Ezeh commended the candidates for their impressive turnout and orderly conduct since the examinations began on October 5.
He said the exercise covered officers seeking promotion from Grade Level 13 to Grade Level 14 and those aspiring to advance to Grade Level 17.
The commission chairman cautioned candidates against allowing external interests or political considerations to jeopardise their professional advancement.
He reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to ensuring that the promotion process remained transparent and merit-based.
Meanwhile, the President of the Joint Unions Action Congress (JUAC) for the FCTA and Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Rifkatu Iortyer, said the examination had proceeded smoothly.
Iortyer explained that administrative officers, accountants and other cadres had completed their examinations before the commencement of the current exercise for education officers.
She expressed satisfaction that teachers who missed the August 2025 examination had been given another opportunity to participate.
According to her, the large turnout without disruption demonstrated the candidates’ determination to advance their careers despite the ongoing industrial action involving the NUT and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), FCT chapter.
However, Iortyer expressed concern over the impact of the labour dispute on academic activities, urging the unions and FCTA management to return to the negotiating table in the interest of pupils and students.
She disclosed that union leaders were pursuing informal mediation efforts to resolve the disagreement, expressing optimism that dialogue would produce a mutually acceptable solution.
The JUAC president also appealed for calm among union members, stressing that sustained engagement between labour leaders and the administration remained critical to preventing further escalation of the dispute.
On security arrangements, the Director of the FCTA Security Services Department, Adamu Gwary, said adequate measures had been put in place to ensure the peaceful conduct of the examinations.
Gwary explained that security personnel had established accreditation checkpoints from the entrance gates to the examination halls to manage the large number of candidates and ensure proper screening.
He attributed the orderly conduct of the exercise to effective security planning and the cooperation of the candidates, assuring them that the arrangements would remain in place until the examinations were concluded
