The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to reactivate its suspended nationwide strike, accusing the federal government and state governments of failing to fully implement the December 2025 agreement and resolve outstanding welfare issues affecting lecturers.
The union said it could resume industrial action without any further notice if the issues are not urgently addressed.
The threat followed an emergency meeting of ASUU’s National Executive Council (NEC) held on September 5 in Abuja. In a statement signed by its President, Christopher Piwuna, on September 10, the union cited incomplete implementation of the 2025 agreement, three-and-a-half months of withheld salaries, and unremitted third-party deductions among its major concerns.
The December 2025 agreement, reached after years of negotiations, provided for a 40 per cent increase in academic staff remuneration and improved allowances. ASUU, however, said implementation by federal and state governments remained incomplete
The union said lecturers were still owed three-and-a-half months out of the seven-and-a-half months withheld during the previous industrial dispute. It said the unpaid salaries had lost more than half their value since 2022 because of naira devaluation and inflation.
ASUU also accused the government of failing to remit billions of naira deducted from lecturers’ salaries for pensions, cooperative societies and union dues. It warned that failure to resolve the issue could trigger further industrial action.
The dispute also extends to state universities. ASUU said implementation of the agreement had commenced in Abia, Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno, while Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa had pledged to begin implementation in September or October.
The union also criticised Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke over the two-year extension of the tenure of Osun State University Vice-Chancellor, Clement Adebooye, describing the move as a threat to university autonomy and established tenure rules.
ASUU warned that the unresolved disputes could disrupt academic activities across public universities, saying it could not guarantee an uninterrupted academic calendar at the expense of its members’ welfare.
