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More branches of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have suspended academic activities in protest over the delayed payment of their June 2025 salaries.
This development follows an earlier warning by ASUU’s national president, Prof Chris Piwuna, who told The PUNCH that the union would not hesitate to enforce a no-pay-no-work policy if salaries were not paid promptly.
So far, lecturers across many federal and state universities remain unpaid as of July, prompting a wave of service withdrawals across campuses.
In a related move, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) also issued a stern warning Sunday night, threatening to embark on an indefinite strike should the government continue withholding their salaries.
At the University of Jos, the local ASUU branch has formally withdrawn from teaching and official duties. The branch chairman, Jurbe Molwus, confirmed the action, attributing it to the unpaid June salaries.
Molwus said the move aligns with a National Executive Council resolution, which mandates branches to act if salaries are not paid by the third day of any new month. The university’s congress has also backed the directive, resulting in lecturers boycotting classes and all statutory meetings.
He emphasised that similar action would be taken in future months if salaries are again delayed beyond the third day. A strike-monitoring team has been activated to enforce the decision across departments.
Meanwhile, at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi State, ASUU members have stayed away from campus duties. In a memo, the ASUU ATBU branch urged members to remain off duty until salaries are paid.
Dr Angulu Haruna, ASUU chairman at ATBU, accused the Federal Government of deliberately withholding salaries, calling the delay a “calculated act” to provoke staff unrest.
“Usually, our salaries always span into the first week of the next month. While other government organisations are being paid, federal universities would be left out and would not receive payment.
“Whenever we ask, they’ll always tell us that it is because of the migration from the IPPIS, and we see that there is preferential treatment against us in favour of other organisations,” he said.
At the University of Abuja, academic activities were minimal on Monday as most lecturers stayed off campus due to the continued delay in salary payments.
Only a handful of staff members were seen around, while many lecture halls remained empty, reflecting the impact of the union’s service withdrawal.
At Ahmadu Bello University, a lecturer who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that most of his colleagues had also complied with the National Executive Council’s directive.
He said lecturers at the institution had agreed to stay away from all academic duties until the Federal Government clears the backlog of their June 2025 salaries.
