The Nigeria Union of Teachers, Federal Capital Territory Wing, on Monday staged a protest against the use of vacancy as a requirement for the promotion of teachers, disrupting the ongoing 2025 promotion examination for FCT workers.
The union’s officials and members converged on the headquarters of the National Open University in Abuja, where the promotion examinations for about 13,000 workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration are being held, preventing teachers from participating in the exercise scheduled for Monday.
Leading the protest, the Chairman of the union, Mr Abdullahi Shafas, called on the Chairman of the FCT Civil Service Commission, Mr Emeka Ezeh, to remove the vacancy requirement from the promotion process for teachers.
Shafas maintained that teachers are not pool staff and should be promoted strictly on merit after successfully passing promotion examinations rather than being subjected to vacancy considerations.
He argued that tying promotion to available vacancies would hinder teachers’ career advancement across the FCT.
“The application of vacancy-based promotion for teachers is unjust and detrimental to the teaching profession.
“Teachers should be promoted based on merit and successful performance in promotion examinations rather than the availability of vacancies.
“We deserve special consideration because of the unique nature of our work and the difficult conditions under which many of us serve.
“Therefore, teachers should not be subjected to a vacancy system, as they are deployed across schools in urban and rural communities, where many are facing security challenges, including banditry and kidnapping.”
According to him, regular promotion remains a major source of motivation for teachers, warning that career stagnation would further weaken morale and negatively affect the education sector.
He also lamented the poor remuneration of teachers, describing them as among the least-paid public servants despite their contribution to national development.
According to him, some teachers in the country still earn between N50,000 and N60,000 as a monthly salary, in contrast to what their counterparts receive in some developed countries.
“How do you survive with such a meagre amount if you are living in the capital city?
“Therefore, if a teacher sits for a promotion examination and passes the examination, he or she should be promoted.”
Shafas urged the commission’s chairman to engage the union through dialogue instead of dismissing its concerns.
He added that the prolonged dispute had forced teachers out of classrooms to press for what they considered their legitimate rights, leaving pupils to bear the consequences.
“Our members are not in the classrooms today because they are demanding what they believe is their legitimate right but those who suffer most are the children,” he said.
Dismissing suggestions that the protest had political undertones, he insisted that the action was solely intended to safeguard the welfare and career progression of teachers.
Also speaking, the union’s Secretary, Mrs Margaret Jethro, argued that teachers should not be subjected to the same promotion policy as core civil servants, renewing the call for the establishment of a Teachers Service Commission in the FCT.
“You cannot use a law being used for a core civil servant who needs office accommodation and an official car for promotion of teachers.
“Teachers only need their classrooms as such, the vacancy policy will not work for teachers,” he said.
Jethro recalled that although 401 deputy directors passed the 2023 promotion examination, only 20 were eventually promoted.
She maintained that all teachers who passed the 2023 and 2024 promotion examinations should be promoted before the union would allow teachers to participate in the 2025 exercise.
“The benchmark for promotion was set by the authorities and qualified teachers should not be denied promotion after meeting the requirements,” she said.
Responding to the protest, the Chairman of the FCT Civil Service Commission, Mr Emeka Ezeh, said the promotion process for all FCT workers, including teachers, is governed by established guidelines, describing the union’s position as misleading.
“The system of government is guided by rules, and the commission is only implementing the guidelines for promotion,” he said.
Ezeh added that promotions cannot be granted without available vacancies because of the associated financial and establishment implications.
