The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to resume its suspended nationwide strike without further notice if the Federal Government and state governments fail to urgently address outstanding issues affecting university lecturers.
The union said the non-implementation of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU Agreement, payment of the remaining three-and-a-half months of lecturers’ withheld salaries and non-remittance of billions of naira in third-party deductions had brought the university system to the brink of another industrial crisis.
ASUU, in a statement signed by its President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna and made available to newsmen on Friday, said its National Executive Council (NEC) at an emergency meeting held in Abuja on September 5, resolved that the union “may activate its suspended strike action without any further notice” if the issues were not speedily addressed.
He said: “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.”
According to ASUU, there had been no concerted effort to sustainably address its concerns, except recent attempts by the Federal Ministry of Education to defray outstanding salaries for Federal Universities of Agriculture.
It said lecturers were being forced each month to confront uncertainty over when, and what portion, of their salaries would be paid.
The union also expressed concern over the continued withholding of salaries dating back to the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, saying three-and-a-half months remained unpaid out of the seven-and-a-half months withheld.
While acknowledging President Bola Tinubu for paying four months of the withheld salaries, ASUU said the outstanding balance had denied the administration full credit as a labour-friendly government.
“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 labour-friendly administration.”
The union said lecturers had endured “enormous financial and psychological discomforts” because of the withheld income, which it said had lost more than half of its value since 2022.
“We state for the umpteenth time that the lecturers have done the work for which they are being punished. They did it at huge cost to their physical and psycho-social well-being. Some lost their lives in the process and many are now managing life-threatening ailments.”
It therefore called for the immediate release of the outstanding salaries, insisting that it would not relent until its demands received “an empathetic attention in the appropriate quarters.”
Beyond the withheld salaries, the union raised fresh concerns over deductions made from lecturers’ salaries for pension contributions, staff cooperative societies and union check-off dues.
It said the deductions, running into billions of naira, had not been remitted appropriately for several months, despite repeated engagements with government.
“ASUU does not believe the bureaucracies around seamless release of funds accruing from third-party deductions are beyond what the Office the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Finance could effectively handle.
“Rather, we are inclined to think that withholding these funds is a deliberate act designed to punish ASUU members for rejecting the discredited Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).”
ASUU warned that it was “fully prepared to call out its members” if nothing concrete was done to resolve the issue.
On implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement, the union commended some state governors for making progress, particularly Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, who it said had not only announced full adoption of the agreement but also apologised to ASUU over bureaucratic bottlenecks that caused delays and distortions.
The union also commended Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno states, where it said implementation had commenced.
It, however, warned governors who had yet to act that they risked plunging their universities into “industrial crisis of monumental proportions.”
ASUU also took issue with the two-year tenure extension granted the Vice-Chancellor of Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Prof. Clement Adebooye, by the university’s Visitor, Governor Ademola Adeleke.
The union said the extension, which would keep Adebooye in office until January 2029 instead of January 2027, was contrary to the UNIOSUN Law, which provides for a single five-year tenure for the vice-chancellor.
ASUU said the hurried amendment of the law to accommodate the extension had set “a bad precedent” capable of reversing gains made through the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2012.
It described the development as “antithetical to democratic norms” and said it “stands condemned in strong terms.”
The union further warned that it could challenge the decision if reasons failed to prevail, saying it would not allow what it described as an “absurdity at UNIOSUN” to gain “a notorious national currency.”
On the wider economic situation, ASUU criticised what it described as government’s growing focus on the 2027 general elections at the expense of governance and workers’ welfare.
It said Nigerians were experiencing declining purchasing power despite claims of macroeconomic growth, while access to healthcare, education, electricity, potable water, roads and other basic necessities remained inadequate.
The union described the situation as “a massification of poverty” and said Nigeria appeared to be on a trajectory of “growth without development” that put the people last.
ASUU also backed Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, in his call for an immediate review of the national minimum wage, arguing that workers’ take-home pay could no longer adequately meet their needs.
“It is our considered view that the time has come for indexing the minimum wage to inflation in Nigeria,” the union said, adding that such a system would protect workers’ purchasing power and provide predictable adjustments against rising living costs.
ASUU also warned that the “non- or haphazard implementation” of the 2025 agreement, coupled with the withholding of salaries and third-party deductions, was a recipe for industrial crisis in public universities.
It urged students, parents, media practitioners, labour leaders and other Nigerians to intervene before the situation escalated.
“ASUU can not guarantee uninterrupted academic calendar at the expense of the existential needs of our members.
“We shall not watch helplessly while red tapism incrementally frustrate and destroy what is left of the academic profession and universities in Nigeria.”
ASUU said its doors remained open to dialogue with the Federal Government and state governments, but warned Nigerians not to blame the union if it was forced to resume the suspended strike.
“Nigerians should not blame ASUU if we are forced to resume the suspended action on account of no satisfactory response from government.”
