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About 5,990 teachers and education officers under the Federal Capital Territory Administration have been given a second chance to sit for their promotion examination after the intervention of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
The ongoing exercise, which started on October 5, is specifically for the education cadre on Grade Levels 13 to 17, according to a statement issued on Monday by the Minister’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Lere Olayinka.
The statement explained that the fresh examination window was opened for education workers who missed the 2025 promotion test.
That test, organised by the FCT Civil Service Commission in July for all cadres, was disrupted for teachers after officials of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, FCT Wing, reportedly forced candidates out of the hall on the two days reserved for education officers.
The approval for a resit came after appeals from affected teachers and labour bodies, including the Joint Union Action Committee, the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, FCT chapter, and the NUT itself.
Inspecting the venue on Monday, the Head of the FCTA Civil Service, Nancy Sabanti Nathan, said she was impressed by the large turnout and peaceful conduct of the teachers.
“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,” Nathan said.
She reminded the teachers that promotion remains key to career growth but noted that spaces become tighter at the top, a situation worsened by the harmonised retirement age for teachers, which extended service by five years and limited vacancies in the last four years.
The Chairman of the FCT Civil Service Commission, Emeka Ezeh, who put the figure of participating education workers at about 5,990, praised their discipline since the exercise began.
He said the current phase covers teachers seeking elevation from Grade Level 13 to 14 up to those aiming for Grade Level 17, and warned them not to allow external interests or politics “that could jeopardise their professional advancement.”
Ezeh assured that the process would be transparent and strictly based on merit and available vacancies.
On her part, the President of the Joint Unions Action Congress for the FCTA and FCDA, Rifkatu Iortyer, said administrative officers, accountants and other workers had already finished their own exams before the turn of the teachers.
Iortyer welcomed Wike’s decision to allow teachers who missed the August 2025 exercise to rewrite, saying the massive turnout despite the ongoing industrial action by the NUT and NLC in the FCT shows workers’ commitment to career progression.
She, however, raised concern over the effect of the labour dispute on learning, urging both sides to resume talks for the sake of pupils and students.
“She disclosed that union leaders were engaging in informal mediation efforts to resolve the disagreement, expressing optimism that dialogue would produce a mutually acceptable outcome,” the statement read.
She appealed for calm among members and said continuous engagement between labour and management could stop further escalation.
