The West African Examinations Council has taken the Non Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions to the National Industrial Court, seeking to halt a planned strike over unresolved staff welfare demands, after a 14 day ultimatum issued by the union on July 7 expired.

The legal action comes as the Northern Youth Council of Nigeria and NASU WAEC's Nigeria Branch clash over the underlying cause of the dispute. National President of NYCN, Isah Abubakar, stated in a Wednesday release that a petition submitted two years ago alleged sectional bias against the Head of the National Office, Professor Amos Dangut, a northerner leading an organisation the petitioner claimed is largely populated by Staff from the South West.

Abubakar disclosed that the Council reviewed recruitment patterns between 2020 and 2024, alleging the South West accounted for 273 national staff recruits compared with 195 combined across the three northern geopolitical zones, and that all 16 international staff recruited into the Registrar cadre in 2023 came from southern states. He called for a comprehensive audit of recruitment, appointments, and deployments across the organisation.

However, the Chairman of NASU WAEC Nigeria Branch, Comrade Kayode Ogunyade, rejected the ethnic framing, insisting the dispute is strictly labour related. He traced its origins to a nationwide minimum wage strike in December 2024, when the union sought a 30% pay raise, but management secured board approval for 25%, later triggering a four day strike before an additional 2% was added. Ogunyade alleged that management subsequently disbanded the Senior Staff Association, halted automatic union fee collection, and altered disciplinary panel rules to disadvantage workers.

"As I speak to you now, we are in court because management had finally taken the union to court," Ogunyade stated, confirming the union complied with the ex parte order despite planning an indefinite strike.

Addressing the ethnic allegations directly, Fashina noted that the last recruitment exercise favoured northern candidates, adding that dismissals under the current administration have exceeded those of the previous three combined.

A senior WAEC staff member declined to comment, stating the matter is before the court. Union leadership confirmed workers await further direction from national headquarters as the legal proceedings continue.