FG’s partial implementation of 2025 agreement risks chaos on campuses – ASUU

By Gabriel Dike The Academic Staff Union of Universities has warned that the partial or non-implementation of the December 2025 FG/ASUU agreement by the federal government is threatening the fragile industrial peace on campuses nationwide. The union, in a statement after its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at Modibbo Adama University (MAU), signed by ASUU President Christopher Piwuna, said the momentum generated by the unveiling of the 2025 FGN-ASUU agreement on 14 January 2026 is fast waning and may soon be lost if the government’s promise to fully implement the agreement is not kept. “Our fear is predicated on government’s failure to inaugurate the Implementation Monitoring Committee (IMC) expected to shield the agreement from bureaucratic bottlenecks and guide its strategic actualisation,” he noted. According to Piwuna, the NEC meeting frowned at the distorted and non-implementation of the December 2025 FGN-ASUU agreement by the Federal and State governments. The NEC meeting also noted with concern governments’ reluctance to amicably resolve the lingering issues of the withheld three-and-a-half months’ salaries, promotion arrears, shortfalls in salaries arising from the use of the IPPIS platform, unremitted third-party deductions and arrears of the 25-35% wage award. “The increasing frustration occasioned by the seeming government’s disinterestedness in the welfare of Nigerian academics is brewing a pent-up anger which could erupt into a new wave of industrial unrest if not addressed. “The union appeals to all genuine patriots, well-meaning Nigerians and lovers of Nigeria to prevail on State and Federal governments to fully implement the new agreement and resolve other outstanding issues in the interest of parents, students and the nation at large. “Our union’s doors remain open for working with government to realise all our demands. At the same time, NEC directs that an emergency meeting of ASUU be called in the next few weeks to review the situation and take appropriate action as may be necessary.” Piwuna stressed that Federal Government agents have implemented the agreement in a distorted and unco-ordinated manner, while very few state governments have embraced and implemented it. “Administrators of Federal universities are picking and choosing among what to pay among the Consolidated Academic Tool Allowances (CATA), Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) and Professorial Allowances (PA) whereas all of these should have been mainstreamed with the Consolidated Academic Staff Salary Scale (CONUASS) as monthly salary packages for professors. “Some state governors, as Visitors to State universities, have turned their back on the Agreement at which representatives of their Governing Councils and universities actively participated. “While commending some state universities that blazed the trail, NEC strongly condemns the partial or non-implementation of the salary component of the 2025 FGN-ASUU agreement by Vice-Chancellors and calls on Federal and State governments to respect the letters and spirit of the document for lasting industrial harmony on our campuses. ASUU will stop at nothing to ensure that all our members fully benefit from the modest gains of the eight-year-long negotiation (2017-2025),” he observed. The ASUU president said the NEC meeting called on President Bola Tinubu, as Visitor to Federal Universities, to immediately address the vexatious delay in resolving the salary and other staff welfare issues, including the pension of their colleagues, to douse tensions threatening the fragile industrial peace on campuses. On the state of the nation, Piwuna said recent developments in the country give serious cause for concern about collective survival and progress. He noted, “From politics to economy, from social welfare to security, the hope of things getting any better looks grimmer and grimmer by the day. As the country inches towards the 2027 general elections, the political atmosphere has become increasingly charged. Politicians are dagger-drawn, and the pervasive do-or-die politics hang gloomily like the Sword of Damocles over the nation.” Tags: #asuu #Christopher Piwuna #FG-ASUU agreement #industrial harmony #university lecturers