The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to resume its postponed nationwide strike if the federal and state governments do not promptly resolve outstanding issues affecting university professors.
ASUU stated that it could revive the strike “without further notice” due to the insufficient implementation of the December 2025 agreement, payment of the remaining 3.5 months of delayed salary, and non-remittance of billions of naira deducted from lecturers’ salaries.
The union’s position was expressed in a statement emailed to our correspondent by its president, Christopher Piwuna, following an emergency meeting of its National Executive Council at the University of Abuja on Friday morning.
According to ASUU, the December 2025 deal came after more than eight years of negotiations and efforts, but it has yet to be completely implemented by the federal government and some states.
“Unless immediate and concrete steps are taken to fully and comprehensively address issues bordering the welfare and well-being of Nigerian academics, ASUU-NEC will not accept any blame for calling out its members on a nationwide strike action within the shortest time possible,” the union warned.
It thanked Abia State Governor Alex Otti, as well as the governments of Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina, and Borno, for starting to implement the accord.
The organization stated that Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe, and Bayelsa had also agreed to begin implementation in September or October, asking other states to act before their universities were plunged into an “industrial crisis of monumental proportions.”
On withheld salary, ASUU accepted that the Tinubu government had paid for four of the 7.5 months withheld during the Buhari administration but sought the prompt release of the remaining 3.5 months.
“We have consistently acknowledged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for paying four (4) out of the withheld salaries. However, leaving out the unpaid balance does not give his government the full credit of a labor-friendly administration,” it said.
ASUU also claimed that pension contributions, cooperative deductions, and union check-off dues totaling billions of naira had gone unremitted for months.
The union warned that the combination of unpaid salaries, unremitted deductions, and poor agreement execution posed a threat to industrial peace in institutions.
“In no mistaken terms, ASUU posits that the non- or haphazard implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement by federal and state governments is a recipe for industrial crisis in Nigeria’s public universities,” it stated.
It called on the federal government and state governments to act quickly, insisting that it would not accept responsibility if the suspended strike was reactivated.
“ASUU-NEC resolved to notify all concerned that the Union may activate its suspended strike action without any further notice if the critical issues raised in this release are not speedily addressed,” the union said.
