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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to resume its suspended nationwide strike if the Nigerian government fails to urgently resolve outstanding issues affecting university lecturers.
The union said it could reactivate the strike without further notice over the incomplete implementation of the December 2025 agreement, payment of the remaining 3.5 months of withheld salaries and the non-remittance of billions of naira deducted from lecturers’ salaries.
ASUU’s position was contained in a statement sent to Punch in the early hours of Friday by its President, Christopher Piwuna, following an emergency meeting of its National Executive Council at the University of Abuja. The union said the December 2025 agreement followed more than eight years of negotiations and struggles but had yet to be fully implemented by the federal government and several state governments.
ASUU said immediate, concrete measures were needed to fully address issues affecting the welfare and well-being of Nigerian academics, warning it would not accept responsibility if unresolved issues led to another nationwide strike.
“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.
The union commended Abia State Governor Alex Otti and the governments of Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno for beginning implementation of the agreement. It said Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa states had also pledged to begin implementation in September or October.
However, ASUU warned other state governments to act quickly to prevent their universities from being plunged into what it described as an “industrial crisis of monumental proportions.”
On withheld salaries, the union acknowledged that the Tinubu administration had paid four of the 7.5 months withheld during the Buhari administration but demanded the immediate payment of the outstanding 3.5 months.
ASUU said it had consistently recognised President Bola Tinubu for releasing part of the withheld salaries, but argued that leaving the outstanding balance unpaid prevented the administration from receiving 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,” it said.
The union also alleged that pension contributions, cooperative deductions and union check-off dues amounting to billions of naira had remained unremitted for several months. It warned that unpaid salaries, outstanding deductions, and incomplete implementation of the 2025 agreement were threatening industrial peace in Nigeria’s universities.
ASUU described the non-implementation or partial implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement by federal and state governments as a potential trigger for an industrial crisis across public universities.
The union urged both levels of government to address the outstanding issues promptly, warning that it would not accept responsibility if it reactivated the suspended strike.
ASUU said its National Executive Council had resolved to notify all concerned that the union could activate the suspended strike without further notice if the critical issues were not addressed speedily.
