ASUU Threatens Fresh Strike, Calls Emergency NEC Meeting Over FG’s Failure to Implement 2025 Deal

Nigerian university lecturers could be heading for another showdown with the Federal Government. The Academic Staff Union of Universities is warning that unless the government gets serious about implementing the December 2025 agreement, a fresh nationwide strike could be on the table.

ASUU’s National Executive Council wrapped up a two-day meeting at Modibbo Adama University in Yola on May 10, and the mood wasn’t good. The union says it has watched in frustration as government promises made in January 2026 have gone largely unmet.

What ASUU Says the Government Has Not Done

ASUU President Chris Piwuna laid out the specific grievances in a statement issued Monday. The union says the government has failed to pay three-and-a-half months of withheld salaries, clear promotion arrears, settle outstanding Earned Academic Allowances, and resolve shortfalls arising from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). Unremitted third-party deductions and unpaid arrears from the 25–35 per cent wage award are also on the list.

“The momentum generated with the unveiling of the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement on 14th January 2026 is fast waning and may soon be lost if the government’s promise to fully implement the agreement is not kept,” Piwuna said.

Emergency NEC Meeting in the Coming Weeks

The union isn’t pulling the strike trigger yet — but it’s getting close. ASUU said it has maintained “a studied silence” since the January 2026 presentation of the agreement, but Monday’s press conference was a signal that patience is running out.

“Our union’s doors remain open for working with the government to realise all our demands. At the same time, NEC directs an emergency meeting to be called in the next few weeks to review the situation and take appropriate action,” Piwuna stated.

One issue drawing particular criticism: the government has not yet inaugurated the Implementation Monitoring Committee — the body that was supposed to track compliance and prevent exactly the kind of bureaucratic delays ASUU is now complaining about.

Selective Implementation, Say Lecturers

ASUU also accused some federal university administrators of cherry-picking which parts of the agreement to implement — particularly payments tied to Consolidated Academic Tool Allowances, Earned Academic Allowances, and Professorial Allowances. The union framed this as a deliberate pattern, not administrative oversight.

BusinessDay reported that the union described implementation so far as “distorted and uncoordinated” — language that suggests ASUU sees this as more than just bureaucratic slowness.

Nigeria’s universities have lived through multiple ASUU strikes, the longest of which lasted eight months in 2022 and effectively wiped out an academic year for millions of students. Whether this latest warning translates into action will depend heavily on what the Federal Government does in the coming weeks.

Sources: Punch, BusinessDay