The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that Nigeria’s public universities could face another nationwide strike unless the Federal and State Governments urgently address outstanding salary, welfare and implementation issues affecting university lecturers.
The warning followed an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) held at its National Secretariat at the University of Abuja on September 5, 2026.
According to ASUU, the major issues at the centre of the dispute include the non-implementation or haphazard implementation of the December 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement, three-and-a-half months of withheld salaries dating back to the previous administration, unremitted third-party deductions and concerns over university autonomy.
ASUU President, Christopher Piwuna, said the union would not accept responsibility for any disruption of academic activities if the outstanding issues remained unresolved.
“Except for recent attempts by the Federal Ministry of Education to defray outstanding salaries for Federal Universities of Agriculture, there have been no concerted efforts to address our concerns and worries on a sustainable basis,” the union said.
It added that lecturers were being forced to engage their vice-chancellors each month over uncertainty about when and how much of their salaries would be paid.
“This time, the union’s message to the nation is clear: Unless immediate and concrete steps are taken to FULLY and COMPREHENSIVELY address issues bordering the welfare and well-being of Nigerian academics, ASUU-NEC will not accept any blame for calling out its members on a nationwide strike action within the shortest time possible,” Piwuna said.
The union said the unresolved issues were already creating industrial tensions across universities, with some state university branches moving towards strike action.
ASUU commended the governments of Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno states, where implementation of the 2025 agreement has commenced.
It also noted commitments by the governments of Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa states to begin implementation in September or October.
According to the union, affected universities had been notified of possible strike action unless satisfactory progress was recorded in resolving the disputes.
State universities begin industrial action
The warning comes amid a series of industrial disputes involving ASUU chapters at state-owned universities.
ASUU chapters at the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, and Plateau State University have declared indefinite strikes over unresolved demands, including the implementation of the 2025 agreement and payment of salary arrears.
At Sule Lamido University, Kafin Hausa, the ASUU branch announced a two-week warning strike beginning September 15 over unresolved issues with the Jigawa State Government. The branch warned that the action could escalate into a total and indefinite strike.
Withheld salaries remain unpaid
ASUU said three-and-a-half months of the seven-and-a-half months in salaries withheld during the Buhari administration remained unpaid.
The union acknowledged that the administration of President Bola Tinubu had paid four months of the withheld salaries but said the outstanding balance continued to impose financial and psychological hardship on lecturers.
It further claimed that the value of the withheld income had declined by more than 50 per cent since 2022.
“It will do this government a lot of good to restore the full confidence of lecturers in the nation-building project, for which Nigerian scholars are critical pillars and pivots,” Piwuna said.
“We state for the umpteenth time that the lecturers have done the work for which they are being punished.
“They did it at huge cost to their physical and psycho-social well-being. Some lost their lives in the process, and many are now managing life-threatening ailments.
“For healing and restoration in the Nigerian University System (NUS), we think the withheld salaries of lecturers should be released without further delay. As for us in ASUU, we shall not give up until our cries get an empathetic attention in the appropriate quarters.”
Third-party deductions
The union also raised concerns over pension contributions, cooperative society deductions and union check-off dues deducted from lecturers’ salaries but allegedly not remitted for several months.
ASUU said its engagements with the government on the issue had produced only limited progress and warned that it could call out its members if the outstanding deductions were not properly remitted.
The warning comes as the Federal Government takes steps to implement parts of the 2025 agreement.
On September 9, the government announced the release of funds for the full payment of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance to academic staff in federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for January to August 2026.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said the payment was being implemented in line with the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement.
ASUU, however, maintained that several other core provisions of the agreement remained unresolved.
Union seeks intervention
The union warned that the unresolved issues could push more universities into industrial action and called on students, parents, labour leaders, the media and other Nigerians to intervene before the situation escalates.
“In no mistaken terms, ASUU posits that the non- or haphazard implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement by federal and state governments is a recipe for industrial crisis in Nigeria’s public universities,” Piwuna said.
“In the same vein, withholding the three-and-a-half months’ salaries and third-party deductions by the government is an ill wind for lasting peace on our campuses.
“We call on students, parents, media practitioners, labour leaders and other patriotic Nigerians to come into the brewing crisis before it gets out of hand.”
He added: “ASUU cannot guarantee an uninterrupted academic calendar at the expense of the existential needs of our members. We shall not watch helplessly while red-tapism incrementally frustrates and destroys what is left of the academic profession and universities in Nigeria.”
ASUU stressed that its latest position did not amount to an immediate declaration of a nationwide strike, but rather a warning that its suspended industrial action could be activated if the government failed to respond satisfactorily to its demands.
The union said it remained open to negotiations with the Federal and State Governments but maintained that the welfare of lecturers could not be separated from the stability of Nigeria’s university system.
