ASUP gives Ogun govt 6-day ultimatum over welfare demands

Ogun polytechnic lecturers have given Governor Dapo Abiodun six days to address their unpaid allowances and other welfare concerns, warning that failure to meet their demands could trigger industrial action across state-owned institutions.

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) in Ogun State also wants the government to increase the monthly subvention to each of the state-owned polytechnics from the current N5m to N100m, citing rising operational costs and inadequate funding.

The union made the demands on Thursday during a joint press briefing at the ASUP Secretariat, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, as the countdown to the expiration of a 15-day ultimatum issued by its national leadership continued.

Reading the union’s position, the ASUP chairman of Ogun State Polytechnic of Health and Allied Sciences, Kolawole Adeyemi, said the ultimatum began on October 27 following a resolution at the union’s 118th National Executive Council meeting in Abuja on October 22.

He said the national leadership had written to the state government twice, on August 5 and September 21, urging it to implement the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance and Earned Academic Allowance provisions of the 2026 Federal Government-ASUP agreement.

“Unfortunately, despite these repeated engagements, the union has yet to receive any satisfactory evidence of commitment towards its implementation,” Adeyemi said.

He warned that the government had only six days to prevent a disruption in the polytechnic sector.

“Today, Thursday, 5th November, 2026, with only six days remaining before the expiration of the ultimatum, we consider it necessary to publicly reiterate our concerns and call on the Ogun State Government to take immediate and decisive steps to avert an avoidable industrial crisis,” the union said.

ASUP also accused the government of neglecting the funding needs of the institutions, noting that the monthly subvention to some polytechnics had remained at N5m for more than 10 years.

The union described the allocation as grossly inadequate to meet current operational demands and called for an immediate increase to N100m for each state-owned polytechnic.

It further raised concerns over what it described as irregular pension counterpart funding and several months of unremitted deductions from employees' salaries to their Pension Fund Administrators.

The union said the situation threatened workers’ retirement security and long-term welfare.
It also complained that palliative payments announced by the state government had not been consistently extended to workers in the affected institutions, with most yet to receive the support this year.

ASUP urged Abiodun to begin payment of the outstanding allowances, clear the pension deductions and improve funding for the institutions.

“We hope that the remaining six days will be utilised by the government to demonstrate the political will and commitment required to resolve these issues and avert any industrial action in the affected institutions,” Adeyemi said.

“No responsible government should allow avoidable industrial disharmony to disrupt the academic calendar when the issues at stake can be resolved through genuine commitment and timely intervention.”