The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has embarked on a nationwide strike following the non-payment of June 2025 salaries to its members.
The union’s president, Professor Chris Piwuna, confirmed the development on Monday in Abuja. He said the action was in line with a resolution by ASUU’s National Executive Council (NEC), which mandates members to stop work if salaries are not paid within three days of the due date.
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Branches of the union, including those at the University of Jos and University of Abuja, have already joined the strike.
“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 (IPPIS).
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,” Piwuna said.
He stressed that this is not a new tactic or a fresh round of negotiation, but a response to ongoing hardship caused by delayed salaries.
He blamed the situation on inefficiencies and what he called a deliberate effort by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to frustrate university workers.
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“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 added.
Since the union was moved from IPPIS to GIFMIS (Government Integrated Financial Management Information System), ASUU says things have only gotten worse.
Piwuna said there’s no technical issue with the current payment system and insisted that the delay in salary release is a calculated move by some government officials.
“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. 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,” he said.
He further warned that the ongoing issue of delayed salaries is only part of the broader problem. According to him, the government has also failed to pay the outstanding balance of lecturers’ Earned Academic Allowances (EAA).
“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,” he said.
ASUU has made it clear that universities where salaries have not been paid will continue with the strike action until the situation changes.
Kano Times