5,990 FCT Education Officers Begin Promotion Exams After Wike’s Intervention
Mirian Gom 
ABUJA, Nigeria – No fewer than 5,990 education officers in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) have begun their 2026 promotion examinations following an intervention by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
The examination, which started on October 5, entered its sixth day on Monday, with teachers and other education officers on Grade Levels 13 to 17 participating.
According to a statement shared with journalists on Monday by the minister’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Lere Olayinka, the intervention gave officers who could not participate in the 2025 exercise another opportunity to sit the examination.
The rescheduled exercise followed the disruption of the 2025 promotion examination for education officers, when officials of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), FCT chapter, allegedly chased candidates out of the examination hall on the two days allocated to the education cadre.
The 2025 promotion examination had been conducted by the FCT Civil Service Commission in July for officers across various cadres in the administration.
Following 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 NUT, Wike approved another examination for the affected education officers.
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 candidates.
She said the minister’s intervention had given affected officers another opportunity to advance their careers. “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 urged candidates to remain orderly and take the examinations seriously, describing promotion as an important part of career progression in the public service.
Nathan, however, explained that opportunities for promotion become more limited at higher grade levels because the civil service structure 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 Act, which extended teachers’ service by five years and reduced the number of vacancies created by retirements over the past four years.
The Head of Service said promotion opportunities remained available at lower cadres, adding that candidates’ advancement would depend on merit and available vacancies.
She also said the education officers would return to their respective schools after completing the examinations.
The Chairman of the FCT Civil Service Commission, Emeka Ezeh, confirmed that approximately 5,990 education officers were participating in the exercise. Ezeh commended the candidates for their turnout and orderly conduct since the examinations began on October 5.
He said the examination covered officers seeking promotion from Grade Level 13 to Grade Level 14 and those aspiring to reach Grade Level 17.
The commission chairman warned candidates against allowing external interests or political considerations to jeopardise their professional advancement. He reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to a transparent, merit-based promotion process.
Meanwhile, the President of the Joint Unions Action Congress for the FCTA and Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Rifkatu Iortyer, said the examination had proceeded smoothly.
She said administrative officers, accountants and other cadres had completed their examinations before the current phase for education officers. Iortyer welcomed the decision to give teachers who missed the August 2025 examination another opportunity to sit the test.
She said the large turnout without disruption showed candidates’ determination to pursue career advancement despite the ongoing industrial action involving the NUT and the Nigeria Labour Congress in the FCT.
However, she expressed concern about the impact of the labour dispute on academic activities and urged the unions and FCTA management to return to the negotiating table in the interest of pupils and students.
According to the statement, Iortyer said union leaders were pursuing informal mediation efforts to resolve the disagreement and expressed optimism that dialogue would produce an acceptable outcome.
She also appealed for calm among union members, saying sustained engagement between labour leaders and the administration could prevent further escalation. The promotion examination is taking place amid the wider dispute over teachers’ welfare, promotion procedures and the treatment of education officials in the FCT.
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