From Tongnaan Bawa Jos
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that the continued failure of the government to settle outstanding salary arrears and implement key provisions of its December 2025 agreement could trigger another nationwide strike.
ASUU National President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, gave the warning on Friday in Jos after the union’s National Executive Council meeting.
Piwuna said university lecturers were still owed three-and-a-half months’ salaries withheld during the 2022 industrial action, as well as promotion arrears and 25 and 35 per cent wage awards.
He said the failure to resolve the outstanding payments was worsening industrial relations between the union and the government.
According to him, some universities had already met the conditions required by ASUU for industrial action, with Plateau State University, Bokkos, among those cleared.
Piwuna also accused some state governments of failing to comply with the salary structure agreed with the Federal Government, while alleging that ASUU members were being victimised in some universities.
He said the union would continue to resist such alleged victimisation until it stopped and the December 2025 agreement was fully implemented.
On postgraduate training, the ASUU president criticised the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) classification of universities into “tenable” and “non-tenable” categories, describing the policy as discriminatory and capable of limiting academic development opportunities for university staff.
Piwuna also raised concerns over the reported completion of solar power projects in 15 universities by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
He said reports from ASUU branches indicated that some of the installations were either not functional or had repeatedly broken down.
Among the institutions mentioned were the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun; the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta; Nnamdi Azikiwe University; and Usmanu Danfodiyo University.
The union further expressed concern over insecurity, political violence, corruption and economic hardship ahead of the 2027 general elections.
ASUU urged the government to prioritise education, research, agriculture, industrial production and social protection, while intensifying efforts to recover allegedly stolen funds and curb financial leakages.
The union is expected to reconvene in the coming weeks to review the level of implementation of the December 2025 agreement and determine its next course of action.