ASUU Demands Action on Withheld Lecturers’ Salaries, Agreement Implementation

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expressed concern over the failure of the Federal and some state governments to fully implement the December 2025 agreement with the union, as well as the continued withholding of three-and-a-half months’ salaries owed university lecturers.

ASUU President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, spoke on the matter during an appearance on Frontline, a current affairs programme broadcast on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu.

Piwuna said ASUU had entered the December 2025 agreement with the expectation that it would help stabilise Nigeria’s university system, improve the welfare of academic staff and address persistent problems affecting public universities.

According to him, the union was disappointed that some of the provisions had not been implemented, while others were being applied inconsistently by the Federal and state governments.

“It’s really painful to have a conversation on issues like this. Our expectation, when we signed an agreement in December 2025, was that we are going at this time to talk about the progress that we have made, the stability in the system and concern ourselves with issues that affect Nigerians,” he said.

He explained that the agreement addressed several areas, including lecturers’ salaries, funding for public universities and research support. However, he said the implementation process had not met ASUU’s expectations.

The union president also spoke about the salaries withheld from lecturers under the previous administration.

He said seven-and-a-half months’ salaries had initially been withheld, but that the Federal Government had so far paid four months, leaving three-and-a-half months unpaid.

Piwuna described the outstanding payments as a significant concern for affected lecturers and said ASUU expected the government to settle the remaining balance.

He also disclosed that the implementation of the new salary structure remained problematic in some universities, with lecturers in some institutions still uncertain about receiving their complete entitlements.

“As we stand now, funding is not properly being done according to what was agreed to. Individual universities have to embark on strike before salaries are being paid. Some universities are cut off from the new salary structure,” he said.

According to him, state governments were also responsible for implementing the agreement in universities under their jurisdiction.

While some states had begun implementation, Piwuna said others had yet to fully comply, leading to differences in the conditions of service across public universities.

He specifically mentioned Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, among those who had started implementing the agreement.

“Only Governor Alex Otti of the South-Eastern part has implemented it,” he said.

Piwuna appealed to governments that had yet to meet their obligations to do so, saying ASUU had continued to pursue the issues through discussions with government officials.

“We have engaged them; the Minister of Education at federal level, we engaged Senator Larry Tejuosho, the chairman of the implementation committee monitoring the Federal Government agreement. We have reminded them to do the needful,” Piwuna said.

The ASUU president also highlighted funding as a major challenge for Nigeria’s public universities, particularly with regard to research, infrastructure and the development of human capital.

He called for increased and sustained investment in education, saying universities require adequate funding to produce research and innovations that can compete globally.

Piwuna advocated for governments to dedicate as much as 26 per cent of their annual budgets to education.

“Every government should at least aim to supply or to fund their budget or dedicate their budget up to 26 per cent to education, and Nigeria is not an exception,” he said.

However, he disclosed that ASUU had agreed to a lower 15 per cent education budget benchmark during negotiations with the Federal Government because of the financial challenges involved in immediately meeting the higher target.

“So while negotiating with the government, we told the government to reduce the budget to 15 per cent and they agreed. Although it may be difficult, it can be done incrementally,” he said.

Piwuna further explained that the December 2025 agreement included funding provisions for public universities, salary improvements for lecturers and measures aimed at strengthening research.

“The agreement, when we signed it, had provision for funding for public universities. It had provisions for improved salary, and it had provision for research council, amongst others,” he said.

He said stronger research funding would enable Nigerian universities to play a greater role in national development and contribute knowledge that could compete beyond the country.

Piwuna warned that inadequate education funding affects more than universities, with implications for research, innovation, human capital development and the broader economy.

“We all know the value of education and we expect our leaders to carry out policies and actions that will promote education,” he said.

He reiterated that ASUU remained open to dialogue with both Federal and state authorities, while urging the governments to resolve the outstanding salary payments, fully implement the December 2025 agreement and improve funding for public universities.

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