ASUU Threatens Nationwide Strike Over Unresolved Salary, Welfare Issues
E-ISSN: 2354-4481
By Rita Onuoha
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to resume its suspended nationwide strike over the failure of the Federal Government and some state governments to resolve outstanding salary, welfare and other issues affecting university lecturers.
The warning followed an emergency meeting of the union's National Executive Council (NEC), held on September 5, 2026, at the Festus Iyayi National Secretariat Complex, University of Abuja.
In a statement signed by ASUU National President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, the union expressed concern over what it described as the continued failure of the government to implement agreements reached with the union.
ASUU warned that it could activate its suspended industrial action without further notice if concrete measures were not taken to address the outstanding issues.
According to the union, one of the major issues at the centre of the dispute is the non-implementation of the December 2025 agreement reached between the Federal Government and ASUU after years of negotiations.
The union said several provisions of the agreement remained outstanding, despite assurances from the government concerning their implementation.
ASUU also raised concerns over the payment of withheld salaries owed to university lecturers. The union said three-and-a-half months of salaries remained outstanding from the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Another major issue identified by the union is the alleged non-remittance of billions of naira deducted from workers' salaries as third-party contributions.
The academic union maintained that the outstanding deductions had continued to cause financial difficulties for affected university employees and demanded that the government take urgent steps to resolve the matter.
ASUU said it would continue to monitor the implementation of the agreements and the government's response to its demands.
The union warned that failure to address the issues could lead to another disruption of academic activities across public universities.
It stated that it would not accept responsibility for any consequences arising from a renewed industrial action if the government failed to resolve the outstanding matters.
The threat has renewed concerns among students, parents and university administrators over the possibility of another nationwide interruption of academic activities.
ASUU, which represents academic staff in Nigeria's public universities, has historically used industrial action to press demands relating to university funding, lecturers' welfare, salaries, working conditions and the implementation of agreements reached with successive governments.
The union's latest warning comes against the background of prolonged disputes between university lecturers and government authorities over funding and employment conditions in the nation's tertiary education sector.
However, ASUU acknowledged that some state governments had taken steps towards implementing the December 2025 agreement.
The union specifically commended the governments of Abia, Bauchi, Ekiti and Ogun states, among others, for commencing implementation of the agreement.
ASUU urged other governments to follow the example of the states that had begun taking steps to address the outstanding issues.
The union's NEC is expected to continue monitoring developments and government responses to its demands.
The latest warning places pressure on the Federal Government to engage with the union and resolve the outstanding matters before they result in another nationwide strike.
For students currently enrolled in public universities, any resumption of industrial action could affect lectures, examinations, research activities and academic calendars across the country.
The government has yet to indicate whether it will meet with ASUU to address the latest demands or announce specific measures to prevent a fresh disruption of university education.
ASUU has repeatedly engaged successive Nigerian governments over university funding, lecturers' salaries, welfare, earned academic allowances and the implementation of agreements. Industrial disputes between the union and government have previously resulted in prolonged closures of public universities, disrupting academic calendars and affecting millions of students. The current dispute centres largely on outstanding provisions of the December 2025 agreement and unresolved salary and deduction issues.
