Horse’s Mouth News appreciates donations in support of good journalism and quality reportage. (Naira Account, Nigeria)
Account number: 6281917627
Account name: Horse’s Mouth News Media
Bank: Monie Point
ASUU to embark on nationwide strike over unpaid salaries, 2025 agreement
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said it would embark on a nationwide strike if the federal and state governments do not address outstanding salary, welfare, and implementation issues affecting university lecturers.
This was disclosed after an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at the University of Abuja on September 5, 2026.
Some of the contending issues raised by the union include the non/haphazard implementation of the December 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement, three-and-a-half months of withheld salaries, unremitted third-party deductions and concerns over university autonomy.
According to the president of the union, Christopher Piwuna, ASUU would be absorbed of all blames should academic activities be disrupted as a result of the unresolved issues.
“Except for recent attempts by the Federal Ministry of Education to defray outstanding salaries for Federal Universities of Agriculture, there have been no concerted efforts to address our concerns and worries on a sustainable basis.
“Each month, lecturers have been forced to be at daggers drawn with their vice-chancellors over uncertainty of when and what part of their salaries would be paid. This time, the union’s message to the nation is clear:
“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 stated.
ASUU said some state university branches of the union are already moving towards strike action, commending states that have begun the implementation of the 2025 Agreement, and acknowledging states like Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa that have pledged to commence implementation in September or October.
It stated that unless satisfactory progress was recorded a strike action was imminent for universities concerned.
The union who though acknowledged the current administration’s payment of four months out of the seven-and-a-half months salaries withheld during the Buhari administration, said the remaining three-and-a-half months were yet to be paid.
It said while the unpaid salaries have caused financial and psychological hardship on lecturers, the value had fallen by more than 50 percent since 2022.
“It will do this government a lot of good to restore the full confidence of lecturers in the nation-building project, for which Nigerian scholars are critical pillars and pivots. 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 (NUS), we think the withheld salaries of lecturers should be released without further delay. As for us in ASUU, we shall not give up until our cries get an empathetic attention in the appropriate quarters,” the union’s president stated.
The union also complained of pension contributions, cooperative society deductions and union check-off dues deducted from lecturers’ salaries, running into billions of naira, which had not been appropriately remitted for several months.
The Federal Government had on September 9 said it would implement part of the 2025 agreement, including the full payment of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance to academic staff in federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for January to August 2026.
ASUU in its response said core elements of the agreement remained unresolved, as the union warned of imminent industrial action while calling on stakeholders to intervene before the crisis escalates.
“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.
“In the same vein, withholding the three-and-a-half months’ salaries and third-party deductions by the government is an ill wind for lasting peace on our campuses. We call on students, parents, media practitioners, labour leaders and other patriotic Nigerians to come into the brewing crisis before it gets out of hand.
“ASUU can not guarantee an uninterrupted academic calendar at the expense of the existential needs of our members. We shall not watch helplessly while red-tapism incrementally frustrates and destroys what is left of the academic profession and universities in Nigeria,” the union stressed.
