Academic operations have been halted at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi and Imo State University, Owerri, following total strikes by their chapters of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
The movement occurred as the ASUU National Executive Council permitted 20 tertiary branches to initiate steps toward industrial action regarding the alleged non-fulfillment of the 2025 accord between the Federal Government and the body.
The verdict was detailed in the outcomes of the union’s NEC session conducted at the University of Abuja on Saturday and Sunday, August 8 and 9, 2026, and outlined in a briefing by the ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, on Monday.
According to the resolutions, the impacted chapters were instructed to issue 14-day ultimatums and, should their demands remain unfulfilled, embark on strike.
“Consequently, NEC resolved that permission be granted to the following branches that have approached NEC for an action, to institute the procedures to embark on strike in order to press home their demands. This is to be preceded by the issuance of a 14-day ultimatum,” Piwuna stated.
The institutions comprise Nasarawa State University, Keffi; Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai; University of Medical Sciences, Ondo; Gombe State University; Plateau State University; Adekunle Ajasin University; Adeyemi Federal University of Education; Abia State University; Imo State University; Niger Delta University; and Taraba State University.
Others include the University of Africa, Toru-Orua; Bayelsa Medical University; Ambrose Alli University; Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology; University of Education and Entrepreneurship, Akamkpa; Emmanuel Alayande University of Education; Kaduna State University; Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology; and Northwest University, Kano.
The NEC indicated the choice stemmed from anxieties surrounding what it termed the delayed execution of the 2025 federal government-ASUU agreement and the default of various state-owned institutions to apply the pact.
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He additionally instructed the association’s branches to act upon the expiration of the notices, observing that units within the Sokoto Zone had already distributed two-week warnings.
Meanwhile, ASUU divisions at Nasarawa State University and Imo State University have already begun open-ended strikes.
At Nasarawa State University, the arm declared a total and indefinite strike over alleged unremitted entitlements valued at over N3bn.
The branch leader, Dr Zubairu Loko, stated the outstanding payments encompassed Earned Academic Allowance, consequential adjustments stemming from the rollout of the national minimum wage, and the Federal Government-approved pay increase for university academics.
Loko stated the union had engaged in multiple discussions with the university leadership, Governing Council, and Nasarawa State Government to resolve the matters, albeit unsuccessfully.
“Enough is enough. We have withdrawn our services. There will be no teaching, no supervision, no research until our money is paid,” he said.
At Imo State University, the ASUU chapter similarly launched an indefinite strike over the failure of the Imo State Government to fulfill the 2025 pact between the union and the Federal Government.
The organization noted it had paused for nearly eight months for the deal to be executed, highlighting that several other state institutions had already initiated compliance.
The unit cited among its grievances the persistent siphoning of the institution’s internally generated revenue into the Treasury Single Account, alleged infringement on university autonomy, non-disbursement of promotion arrears extending back to 2016, and unpaid earnings owed to particular members.
The group also protested the withholding of check-off dues since 2009.
ASUU-IMSU stated it would stay accessible for negotiations but would not call off the strike until its grievances were resolved.
The ASUU NEC also determined that an urgent meeting would be called at the end of August or early September to evaluate progress and make further decisions.
The body had earlier reasserted its “no-pay, no-work” stance, permitting branches to take steps where earnings remained unpaid beyond the third day of the subsequent month.
ASUU also instructed chapters in federal institutions where earnings were shortchanged, including universities of agriculture, to execute measures to pursue their demands.
