The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that it may resume its suspended strike without further notice unless the Federal Government and state governments resolve outstanding salary payments and implement the 2025 agreement with the union.
The warning followed an emergency meeting of ASUU’s National Executive Council (NEC) held on September 5 at the union’s Festus Iyayi National Secretariat Complex, University of Abuja.
In a statement signed by its National President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, and released on Friday, the union said the failure to implement key aspects of the December 2025 agreement, pay withheld salaries and remit deductions from lecturers’ wages had created fresh tension in public universities.
ASUU said it could no longer guarantee uninterrupted academic activities while the welfare of its members remained unresolved.
Lecturers still owed 3½ months’ salaries
The union said lecturers were still owed three-and-a-half months out of the seven-and-a-half months withheld during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
It said the present administration had paid four months of the outstanding salaries but the balance had lost more than half of its value since 2022 because of naira devaluation and inflation.
“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. For healing and restoration in the Nigerian University System, we think the withheld salaries of lecturers should be released without further delay.”
ASUU also accused the government of failing to remit billions of naira deducted from lecturers’ salaries for pension contributions, cooperative societies and the union’s check-off dues.
It described the non-remittance as a double financial burden because members had been denied access to the funds and any returns they could have generated.
The union linked the issue partly to lecturers’ opposition to the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), warning that it was prepared to mobilise its members if the deductions were not addressed.
“ASUU-NEC is fully prepared to call out its members if nothing concrete is done to address this lingering problem without further delay,” it said.
States face possible university shutdowns
The union also criticised what it called the “non- or haphazard implementation” of the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement by federal and state governments.
It commended the Federal Ministry of Education for efforts to clear salary arrears in federal universities of agriculture but said the intervention had not resolved wider problems affecting academics.
ASUU said lecturers remained uncertain about when and how much of their outstanding salaries would be paid, with some allegedly forced to engage university authorities over salary delays.
The union, however, praised Abia State Governor Alex Otti for announcing the full adoption of the 2025 agreement and apologising over bureaucratic delays that had affected its implementation.
It also said implementation had commenced in Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno states.
Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa states, according to the union, had pledged to begin implementation in September or October.
ASUU warned other states that failure to implement the agreement could result in an “industrial crisis of monumental proportions”.
It said affected universities had already been notified that strike action could commence unless satisfactory progress was recorded.
Challenges UNIOSUN VC extension
The union also opened a separate dispute with Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke over the extension of the tenure of the Vice-Chancellor of Osun State University, Prof. Clement Adegbooye.
Adeleke announced on September 1 that Adegbooye’s tenure, which was due to end in January 2027, had been extended to January 2029.
ASUU rejected the decision, arguing that the law governing the appointment provides for a single five-year tenure without extension.
It accused the governor of hurriedly amending the law to accommodate the extension and warned that the move could undermine university autonomy and establish a precedent for other state universities.
The union also criticised Adegbooye for accepting the extension and urged him to reconsider before January 2027.
ASUU said it would challenge the decision if efforts to reverse it failed.
Rejects government’s economic claims
The union further criticised the Federal and state governments for what it described as a shift in attention towards the 2027 elections following the lifting of the ban on electioneering campaigns on August 19.
ASUU rejected claims of improved macroeconomic performance, arguing that economic growth had not translated into better living conditions for Nigerians.
It cited declining purchasing power, rising living costs and inadequate access to healthcare, education, electricity, potable water and roads as signs of what it called “growth without development.”
The union also backed Nigeria Labour Congress President Joe Ajaero’s call for an immediate review of the national minimum wage.
It advocated linking the minimum wage to inflation to protect workers’ purchasing power and allow wages to adjust automatically as the cost of living changes.
Rejects blame
ASUU said its latest warning was not intended to deliberately disrupt academic activities but reflected what it described as an existential threat to members’ welfare.
The union appealed to students, parents, labour leaders, media practitioners and other Nigerians to pressure the government to resolve the issues before they escalate.
“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 said.
The union added: “In the same vein, withholding the three-and-half months’ salaries and third-party deductions by the government is an ill-wind for lasting peace on our campuses.”
ASUU said its NEC had resolved that it “may activate its suspended strike action without any further notice” if the outstanding issues were not addressed promptly.
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