The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has issued a fresh warning that Nigeria’s public universities could face another nationwide strike if the Federal and state governments fail to urgently resolve outstanding salary, welfare and agreement implementation issues.
The warning followed an emergency meeting of ASUU’s National Executive Council held at the union’s National Secretariat at the University of Abuja on September 5, 2026, where members reviewed the state of the Nigerian university system and unresolved agreements with government.
ASUU President, Professor Christopher Piwuna, said the union would not accept responsibility for disruptions to academic activities if the outstanding issues were allowed to persist without concrete government intervention.
At the centre of the dispute is what ASUU described as the non-implementation or haphazard implementation of the December 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement by federal and state governments, alongside unpaid salary arrears and unremitted deductions.
The union also complained about three-and-a-half months of salaries still owed to lecturers from the seven-and-a-half months withheld during the previous administration’s industrial dispute.
ASUU acknowledged that the administration of President Bola Tinubu had paid four months of the withheld salaries, but insisted that the remaining three-and-a-half months must be released without further delay.
The union said the continued withholding of the money had imposed significant financial and psychological hardship on lecturers, particularly as the value of the outstanding income has substantially declined because of inflation since the salaries were originally withheld.
Beyond the salary arrears, ASUU said billions of naira deducted from lecturers’ earnings for pensions, cooperative societies and union check-off dues had not been properly remitted for several months.
The union maintained that limited progress had been recorded in resolving the third-party deductions and warned that the unresolved financial obligations were creating growing industrial tension across universities.
The situation has already triggered industrial action in some institutions, with ASUU chapters at the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, and Plateau State University declaring indefinite strikes over unresolved demands including implementation of the 2025 agreement and payment of arrears.
At Sule Lamido University in Kafin Hausa, the ASUU branch has also announced a two-week warning strike beginning September 15 over unresolved issues with the Jigawa State Government, with the possibility of escalating the action if the dispute remains unresolved.
ASUU, however, acknowledged that some state governments have started implementing the 2025 agreement, commending Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno for beginning implementation.
The union also noted commitments from Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa states to commence implementation in September or October, although it warned that unresolved issues in other institutions could still trigger further industrial action.
The fresh warning comes despite recent steps by the Federal Government to implement part of the agreement, including the release of funds for the payment of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance to academic staff in federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for January to August 2026.
Education Minister, Tunji Alausa, said the Academic Tools Allowance payment was being implemented in line with the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement, but the union insisted that several other critical components of the deal remained unresolved.
ASUU therefore called on students, parents, labour leaders, media practitioners and other Nigerians to intervene before the growing tensions develop into a wider crisis across the public university system.
The union stressed that its latest statement should not be interpreted as an immediate declaration of a nationwide strike, explaining that the warning was an indication that its previously suspended industrial action could be activated if satisfactory progress was not recorded.
ASUU said it remained open to negotiations with both federal and state governments but maintained that the welfare of university lecturers could not be separated from the stability and effectiveness of Nigeria’s higher education system.
The development has already raised fresh concerns among students and parents, particularly as another prolonged strike could disrupt academic calendars and further delay graduation timelines across public universities.
With several ASUU branches already taking or preparing for industrial action, pressure is now mounting on the Federal Government and affected state governments to resolve the outstanding disputes before the situation spreads to more institutions.
For now, ASUU has stopped short of declaring another nationwide shutdown, but its latest warning signals that the peace currently holding Nigeria’s public universities could be short-lived if the unpaid salaries, deductions and 2025 agreement implementation issues remain unresolved.