Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to embark on a nationwide strike over the non-remittance of deductions from members’ salaries and the incomplete implementation of the agreement reached with the Federal Government in December 2025.
Gatekeepers News reports that Chris Piwuna, ASUU president, disclosed this in a statement on Friday following the union’s National Executive Council meeting at the University of Abuja.
Piwuna said the union was dissatisfied with what he described as the “haphazard” implementation of the December 2025 agreement, noting that several issues affecting university lecturers remained unresolved.
He said some state governments had commenced implementation of the agreement, while others had indicated that they would begin in September or October.
The ASUU president also demanded payment of the outstanding three-and-a-half months’ salaries withheld from lecturers during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, the Tinubu administration has paid four months out of the seven-and-a-half months withheld, leaving a balance that remains unpaid.
Piwuna said the outstanding salaries had caused “enormous financial and psychological discomfort” for affected lecturers, particularly amid the decline in the value of their earnings.
The union also raised concerns over the alleged non-remittance of pension contributions, cooperative deductions and ASUU check-off dues deducted from members’ salaries.
Piwuna said the deductions had remained unremitted for several months, adding that the development had compounded the financial difficulties facing university lecturers.
He said ASUU would not accept responsibility for the consequences if the government failed to address the outstanding issues, adding that the union’s national leadership could direct members to commence a nationwide strike “within the shortest time possible.”
The union called on the Federal Government and relevant state authorities to urgently fulfil their commitments and resolve the outstanding issues.
