The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has directed its members across the country to withdraw their services, effectively commencing a nationwide strike over the delay in the payment of June 2025 salaries.
This move, confirmed on Monday in Abuja by ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, follows a resolution by the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) that mandates members to stop work if salaries are not paid within three days of the due date.
According to Prof. Piwuna, branches of ASUU at the University of Jos and the University of Abuja have already downed tools in compliance with the directive.
He emphasised that the action is not a fresh negotiation tactic, but rather the enforcement of an existing NEC policy known as “No Pay, No Work.”
He lamented that the paltry salaries of their members are being treated with nonchalance by the authorities,
Piwuna said since they were moved from IPPIS to GIFMIS, the delays have only worsened, subjecting their members to undue financial hardship.
He added that the union had reached out to key government officials, including the Minister of Education and the Accountant General of the Federation, but those engagements yielded no meaningful response.
“What they are doing is just enforcing a NEC resolution. We have agreed at NEC that our members are going through a lot since our migration out of the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System. Certainly, our salaries are delayed for a week and sometimes 10 days before our members receive the paltry amount we get to help us carry out our duties well.
“Therefore, we agreed that if there is no pay, there will be no work.”
The ASUU President stated that all universities where salaries have not been paid are expected to join the strike, in line with the resolution reached at the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting. He emphasized that the strike is the only way to confront what he described as a deliberate attempt by certain government officials — particularly within the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation —to frustrate university workers.
He said any institution that has not been paid will join the action because “we are tired of talking about this.”
“We have spoken to the relevant authorities—the minister is aware, the Office of the Accountant General is aware. All those concerned are aware that this thing has been happening. We’ve had meetings with them to express our dissatisfaction with the way our salaries are being paid, and they have not taken any action. We want to work, but we cannot because they have not allowed us to work,” he said.
Piwuna insisted that the government has no valid excuse for the delayed salary payments, as there are no issues with the payment platform.
He noted that once the funds reach the universities, there have been no complaints of underpayment or non-payment among staff.
According to him, the platform through which the payment is effected has not been the problem. It’s just a deliberate effort by the Office of the Accountant General to delay the release of the funds.
He added that the platform is working well, but those who make it work are not willing to make it work. We think it’s a deliberate act; that is the point we are making,
The ASUU President noted that the issue of salary delays is the immediate challenge facing union members and warned that the outstanding N10 billion Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) should be released promptly by the government to avoid another round of struggle.
Piwuna explained that the Federal Government was supposed to pay lecturers N50 billion in outstanding EAA but only released N40 billion, leaving a balance of N10 billion.
“On the EAA you talked about, the total amount was N50 billion, and what they gave to us is N40 billion. N10 billion is still outstanding. We hope that this is paid quickly so that we do not have to fight over it.”
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