ASUU Threatens Fresh Nationwide Strike, Gives FG Ultimatum Over Withheld Salaries, Agreement

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to resume its nationwide strike, accusing the Federal Government and several state governments of failing to fully implement agreements reached with the union and resolve outstanding salary and welfare issues.

The warning followed an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) held on September 5, 2026, in Abuja. In a statement dated September 10 and signed by ASUU President, Christopher Piwuna, the union said it could no longer guarantee uninterrupted academic activities if its outstanding demands were not urgently addressed.

ASUU said one of its major concerns was the continued withholding of three-and-a-half months out of the seven-and-a-half months’ salaries withheld from university lecturers. Although the union acknowledged that the administration of President Bola Tinubu had paid four months of the withheld salaries, it insisted that the outstanding balance must be released.

The union said lecturers had suffered severe financial and psychological hardship as a result of the prolonged withholding of their earnings, adding that the value of the unpaid salaries had declined by more than 50 per cent since 2022.

ASUU also accused the government of failing to remit billions of naira deducted from lecturers’ salaries for pensions, cooperative societies and union dues. It further criticised what it described as the poor and inconsistent implementation of the December 2025 Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and ASUU agreement.

On the implementation of the agreement by state-owned universities, ASUU commended Abia, Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno states for commencing the process.

The union said governments in Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa had also indicated that they would begin implementation in September or October.

ASUU, however, expressed particular concern over developments at Osun State University, where it alleged that the state government had extended the tenure of the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Clement Adebooye, by two years.

The union argued that the decision was inconsistent with the university’s governing law and warned that such actions could undermine institutional autonomy and established standards in the nation’s university system.

The union warned that continued failure to address the withheld salaries, third-party deductions and outstanding provisions of the 2025 agreement could plunge the country’s public universities into another industrial crisis.

According to ASUU, its NEC resolved to notify all concerned that the suspended strike could be activated “without any further notice” if the critical issues were not speedily resolved.

Despite the threat, the union said it remained open to further negotiations with the Federal Government and state governments.

It also appealed to students, parents, labour leaders, media practitioners and other Nigerians to intervene and prevail on the authorities to resolve the issues before the situation escalates into another disruption of academic activities nationwide.