The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to reactivate its suspended nationwide strike if the Federal Government and state governments fail to urgently address outstanding issues affecting university lecturers, including unpaid salaries, unremitted deductions and the incomplete implementation of the December 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement.
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The union said it could resume industrial action “without any further notice” if the issues were not speedily resolved.
ASUU’s position was contained in a statement issued after an emergency meeting of its National Executive Council at the University of Abuja and signed by its President, Christopher Piwuna.
According to the union, the December 2025 agreement followed more than eight years of negotiations and struggles but has yet to be fully implemented by the Federal Government and several state governments.
“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.
ASUU said the non-implementation or inconsistent implementation of the agreement by federal and state governments was threatening industrial peace across Nigeria’s public universities.
The union, however, commended the governments of Abia, Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno states for commencing implementation of the agreement.
It added that Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa states had pledged to begin implementation in September or October.
ASUU warned other state governments that failure to act could plunge their universities into what it described as an “industrial crisis of monumental proportions.”
On withheld salaries, the union acknowledged that President Bola Tinubu’s administration had paid four of the 7.5 months of salaries withheld during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
It, however, demanded the immediate payment of the outstanding three-and-a-half 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 labour-friendly administration,” ASUU stated.
Beyond the withheld salaries, the union alleged that billions of naira deducted from lecturers’ earnings for pension contributions, cooperative societies and union check-off dues had remained unremitted for several months.
ASUU said the combination of the unpaid salaries, outstanding deductions and what it described as the poor implementation of the 2025 agreement was increasingly threatening stability in the public university system.
“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,” the statement read.
The union consequently called on both the Federal Government and affected state governments to address the outstanding obligations without further delay.
It warned that if the critical issues remained unresolved, its National Executive Council could revive the suspended industrial action.
“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.
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