ASUU Threatens Nationwide University Shutdown Over Unpaid Salaries, Unmet Agreements

By Opeyemi Adelakun

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has threatened to shut down public universities across Nigeria if the Federal Government and state governments fail to resolve outstanding issues affecting university lecturers.

The warning was contained in a statement issued on Friday by ASUU President, Christopher Piwuna, following an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council at the University of Abuja.

ASUU said it could revive nationwide strike action without issuing another notice if the authorities failed to take immediate steps towards implementing agreements reached with the union.

The union said the December 2025 agreement, which followed more than eight years of negotiations and struggles, remained only partially implemented by the Federal Government and several state governments.

According to ASUU, the outstanding issues have continued to affect the welfare and working conditions of academics across the country.

The union also raised concerns over billions of naira deducted from lecturers’ salaries which it said had not been remitted as required.

ASUU warned that failure by the authorities to resolve the issues could leave the union with no option but to withdraw its members from classrooms across public universities.

“Unless immediate and concrete steps are taken to fully and comprehensively address issues bordering on the welfare and well-being of Nigerian academics, ASUU-NEC will not accept any blame for calling out its members on a nationwide strike action within the shortest time possible,” Piwuna said.

The union further stated that it could reactivate the strike “without any further notice” if the government failed to complete the implementation of the December 2025 agreement.

The latest warning raises the prospect of another disruption to academic activities in public universities, coming after years of disputes between ASUU and successive administrations over funding, welfare, university autonomy and agreements reached with the government.

ASUU urged the authorities to take concrete steps towards resolving the outstanding matters before the situation escalates into another nationwide industrial action.