The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that public universities across Nigeria could face another nationwide strike if the Federal and State Governments fail to urgently resolve outstanding salary, welfare and implementation issues affecting lecturers.
The warning followed an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at the union’s National Secretariat at the University of Abuja on September 5, 2026.
ASUU said the major issues at the centre of the dispute include the non- 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 to academic activities if the outstanding matters 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,” said the union.
“Each month, lecturers have been forced to be at daggers drawn with their vice-chancellors over uncertainty of when and what part 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,” he stated.
The union said the unresolved issues were already creating industrial tensions in several universities, with some state university branches moving towards strike action.
ASUU commended states including Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno, where implementation of the 2025 Agreement has begun.
It also noted commitments to commence implementation in Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa in September or October.
According to the union, affected universities had been informed that strike actions could begin if satisfactory progress was not made.
There have been several industrial disputes involving university lecturers in recent weeks.
ASUU chapters at the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, and Plateau State University had declared indefinite strikes over unresolved demands, including implementation of the 2025 agreement and payment of arrears.
At Sule Lamido University, Kafin Hausa, the ASUU branch also announced a two-week warning strike beginning September 15 over unresolved issues with the Jigawa State Government. The branch warned that the action could be escalated to a total and indefinite strike.
ASUU demands payment of withheld salaries
ASUU said three-and-a-half months out of the seven-and-a-half months of salaries withheld during the Buhari administration remained unpaid.
The union acknowledged that President Bola Tinubu’s administration had paid four months but said the remaining balance continued to cause financial and psychological hardship for 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. 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,” its president stated.
Third-party deductions remain unresolved
The union also raised concerns over pension contributions, cooperative society deductions and union check-off dues deducted from lecturers’ salaries.
ASUU said the deductions, which it claimed amounted to billions of naira, had not been properly remitted for several months.
According to the union, discussions with the government over third-party deductions had yielded only limited progress. It warned that it could mobilise its members for industrial action if the matter remained unresolved.
The warning comes as the Federal Government announced steps towards implementing parts of the 2025 agreement.
On September 9, the government said it had released 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 Education Minister, Tunji Alausa, said the payment was being implemented in line with the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement.
ASUU, however, maintained that other key provisions of the agreement were yet to be resolved.
The union warned that the situation could lead to more universities joining industrial action and appealed to students, parents, labour leaders, the media and other Nigerians to intervene before the situation worsened.
“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,” its president stated. “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.
“ASUU can not 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 revived if the government failed to respond satisfactorily.
The union said it remained open to negotiations with the Federal and State Governments but insisted that the welfare of lecturers could not be separated from the stability of Nigeria’s university system.