The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that it may resume its suspended nationwide strike if the Federal Government and state governments fail to address outstanding issues affecting the welfare of university lecturers.
The union said it could reactivate the industrial action without further notice, citing the incomplete implementation of the December 2025 agreement, the outstanding payment of 3.5 months’ withheld salaries and the failure to remit billions of naira deducted from members’ salaries.
ASUU President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday following an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) at the University of Abuja.
According to the union, the December 2025 agreement was reached after more than eight years of negotiations and industrial struggles but has yet to be fully implemented by the Federal Government and several state governments.
ASUU warned that unless urgent and concrete measures were taken to address issues concerning the welfare and well-being of Nigerian academics, it would not accept responsibility if it decided to mobilise its members for another nationwide strike.
The union commended Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, as well as the governments of Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno for commencing the implementation of the agreement.
It further disclosed that the governments of Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa had indicated plans to begin implementation in September or October.
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ASUU urged the remaining state governments to follow suit, warning that failure to implement the agreement could lead to an “industrial crisis of monumental proportions” across their universities.
On the issue of withheld salaries, the union acknowledged that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had paid four months out of the 7.5 months withheld under the previous administration.
However, ASUU demanded the immediate payment of the remaining 3.5 months, insisting that the outstanding balance must be settled.
The union said, “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 also raised concerns over the alleged non-remittance of pension contributions, cooperative deductions and union check-off dues deducted from lecturers’ salaries over several months.
It warned that the outstanding payments, combined with what it described as the “non- or haphazard implementation” of the 2025 agreement, could undermine industrial peace in Nigeria’s public universities.
The union described the incomplete implementation of the agreement by both federal and state governments as a potential trigger for another industrial crisis in the university system.
ASUU called on the Federal Government and state governments to urgently resolve all outstanding issues, stressing that it would not accept blame if the suspended strike was reactivated.
The union’s NEC consequently notified all stakeholders that it could activate the suspended strike action without further notice if the critical issues were not addressed promptly.
