The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has denied receiving the N50bn revitalization fund the Federal Government recently claimed to have released, insisting that none of the union’s demands has been met ahead of its National Executive Council meeting slated for November 8 and 9, 2025.
ASUU announced this in a Wednesday statement signed by Prof. Jurbe Molwus, who noted that the union had postponed its two-week warning strike in good faith after receiving promises from senior government officials that specific solutions would be presented.
“As ASUU mobilizes for its National Executive Council meeting scheduled to hold on the 8th and 9th of November, 2025, we expect that some of the outstanding entitlements, such as 3.5 months of withheld salaries, 25/35% wage award arrears, promotion arrears, unpaid salaries of some members, etc., would have been paid to university workers by now. But all we get are press releases by the Honourable Minister of Education. What we need is credit alerts and not misleading releases.”
He added that the Federal Government’s recent declaration of an N50 billion disbursement had not resulted in payment to universities.
“It is sad to further note that even the N50bn revitalization fund the FGN claimed to have released some weeks ago is yet to reach the universities. We do not know why the Minister of Education is still keeping it.”
Molwus also questioned the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, who claimed that N2.3 billion had been given to clear salary and promotion arrears.
“Again, the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Maruf Alausa, was quoted to have said in a recent release that ‘The FG has released N2.3bn to clear salary and promotion arrears in all federal universities.’
“But, as we speak right now, the university workers have yet to receive any such alerts. So, the minister’s claim of clearing the backlog may be in the fiction of his imagination. He also claimed to have strengthened academic staff welfare, and we ask, “How?”
Molwus stated that the funds cited by the minister were insufficient.
“However, the big question for the minister to answer is: can a meager N2.3bn settle the backlog of promotion and salary arrears of all federal university workers? Absolutely not. The truth is that the amount of N2.3bn is like a drop in the ocean because it can hardly take care of three big universities in Nigeria. The amount is grossly inadequate and almost embarrassing if not insulting.
“The honorable minister needs to come out clearly and state what fraction of the outstanding entitlements of the university workers the N2.3bn is meant to settle and for whom it is meant. We sincerely do not understand the magic of the minister.”
ASUU further urged Nigerians to hold the Federal Government accountable, warning that it may resume its strike if its demands are not met by November 21, 2025, the end of its four-week ultimatum.
“We hereby call on the press, students, parents, and the general public to call on the FGN to do the needful so that ASUU is not blamed if and when it resumes its suspended strike in the next two weeks. For clarity, the four weeks given to the FGN will lapse on the 21st of November, 2025.
“We hereby state for the benefit of the doubts that the strike was only suspended as a mark of respect and demonstration of goodwill in collective bargaining. So, we expect the FGN to reciprocate by satisfactorily addressing our demands without further delays. Our members are losing patience as they wait to receive alerts of their legitimate entitlements.”
ASUU called a two-week “total and comprehensive” strike on October 12, following a 14-day ultimatum presented to the government on September 28.
The union cited the federal government’s inability to address employee welfare, infrastructure funding, the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, and salary arrears.
However, the Federal Government chastised ASUU for calling a strike and ordered colleges to implement a “No Work, No Pay” policy.
It also directed vice-chancellors to conduct roll calls and physical headcounts of academic personnel and submit reports indicating who was on duty.
Weeks later, the Senate stepped in, expressing alarm about Abuja’s refusal to meet ASUU requests.
Senator Aliyu Dandutse, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, stated that the Senate will begin a new negotiating process with ASUU, the Ministry of Education, and the National Universities Commission to find a long-term solution.
On the disputed University of Abuja land issue, he stated that the Senate would contact the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to reach a peaceful conclusion.
