ASUU directs members to begin nationwide strike
The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has confirmed that a directive has been issued for all branches of the union nationwide to withdraw their services over the delay in the payment of June 2025 salaries to its members, citing the enforcement of “No Pay, No Work” resolution.
ASUU branches in two federal universities, the University of Jos and the University of Abuja, have already commenced strike action in compliance with the directive.
President of ASUU, Prof. Chris Piwuna, who confirmed the development to Tribune Online on Monday in Abuja, said what the institutions are doing is simply enforcing a National Executive Council (NEC) resolution of the union that any month in which salaries are delayed beyond three days, members should withdraw their services until the salaries are paid.
Piwuna lamented the lackadaisical attitude of government officials toward the issue of lecturers’ salaries, which he described as a paltry amount.
He explained that since the migration of university workers from the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS) to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), union members have experienced significant hardship due to salary delays.
He disclosed that the leadership of the union has engaged relevant government officials, including the Minister of Education and the Accountant General of the Federation, without any positive result. Hence, the ASUU NEC resolved to enforce the “No Pay, No Work” policy.
He said: “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,” Piwuna said.
On whether other universities are joining the strike action, the ASUU President said all institutions that have not been paid are expected to withdraw their services, insisting that this was the resolution at NEC and the only way to address the challenge, which he noted is being deliberately caused by some government officials, especially at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
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 stated.
Piwuna maintained that the government has no genuine reason for the delay in salary payments because the platform used for payments has no issues.
According to him, when the money finally gets to the universities, nobody has complained of being underpaid or not receiving their salary.
“So, 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,” the ASUU President added.
He, however, 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.
He noted 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.
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