The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to resume its suspended nationwide strike if the Federal Government and state governments fail to resolve outstanding issues affecting lecturers.
According to ASUU President Christopher Piwuna, the union’s National Executive Council reached the decision during an emergency meeting at the University of Abuja. Piwuna warned that ASUU could reactivate the strike “without any further notice” if the government fails to act.
ASUU said the December 2025 agreement followed more than eight years of negotiations. The union said the Federal Government and several state governments had yet to fulfil all the commitments contained in the deal.
Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa have pledged to begin implementation in September or October, according to the union. ASUU urged the affected governments to meet those commitments to avoid industrial action at their universities.
By contrast, Abia, Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno have started implementing the deal, the union said. ASUU commended the governments of those states for taking action.
In Gombe, the university’s ASUU branch suspended a planned indefinite strike after the state government approved an additional ₦148.762 million monthly subvention from October. The branch gave the government and university management until the end of October to meet its commitments.
Meanwhile, lecturers at Plateau State University, Bokkos, declared an indefinite strike over unresolved demands, including salary arrears and implementation of the 2025 deal. The branch also demanded 22 months of arrears from the 25 per cent and 35 per cent wage awards and the introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme.
In Edo, the ASUU branch at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, began industrial action after the state government and university management failed to meet its 14-day ultimatum. The action affected teaching, examinations, statutory meetings and supervision of research projects, Industrial Training and Teaching Practice.
ASUU also wants the Federal Government to pay the remaining 3.5 months of salaries withheld during the Buhari administration. The union said the Tinubu government had paid four of the 7.5 months owed to lecturers.
The union further demanded the remittance of pension contributions, cooperative deductions and check-off dues taken from lecturers’ salaries. ASUU said the outstanding deductions run into billions of naira and warned that it could call another nationwide strike if governments fail to settle the disputes.
