By PHILIP YATAI

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, will meet with chairmen of FCT area councils, leadership of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and National Association of Nigeria Students (NANs) on Thursday.

The meeting, according to a statement by NANs in Abuja on Wednesday, is to finalise modalities for the reopening of all public primary schools in the FCT.

The statement was signed by NANs National President, Olushola Oladoja and the association?s National Public Relations Officer, Adeyemi Ajasa.

The association explained that it had earlier resolved to stage a mass protest Wednesday morning at the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Secretariat.

It added that its leadership was invited to a high-level engagement at the Department of State Services (DSS) Headquarters, where the issues at hand were thoroughly discussed in the interest of ?ational security and students? welfare.

It said that the first meeting at the DSS paved the way for a second strategic meeting with the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on FCT, Muktar Betara.

NANs said that the engagement revealed the root causes of the ongoing industrial action by the NUT and the efforts made thus far by the Wike-led FCTA.

It added that a third meeting was held with Wike on Tuesday, where the minister explained the issues at hand.

?That the FCT remains the only unit of the federation operating full local government autonomy, hence all salary payments, including that of primary school teachers, are the sole responsibility of the area councils.

?The FCT Administration is not directly responsible for the backlog of teachers? salaries and therefore should not be held solely accountable for the inadequacies of the area councils.

?In a show of responsibility and commitment to resolving the crisis, Wike intervened by proposing a bailout?with FCTA offering to pay 60 per cent of the outstanding arrears while the area councils cover the remaining 40 per cent.

?When it became clear that this arrangement was not yielding desired results, the FCT minister withheld the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the area councils for the months of May and June, with a plan to utilize these funds to make up the 40 per cent requested of area council to clear the outstanding arrears owed to teachers.

?That based on this intervention, it was expected that the two-month arrears withheld be ready before the end of the week,? it said.

The association said that based on the productive engagements and emerging progress, it hereby suspends the planned protest while keeping close tabs on the implementation of all resolutions reached.

?We reaffirm our commitment to defending the rights of Nigerian students and ensuring that no child is denied access to education due to governmental lapses,? he said. (NAN)

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