The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has raised the alarm over the Federal Government’s failure to fully implement the 2025 FG/ASUU Agreement, just five months after both parties signed the deal with much fanfare.
The union’s Abuja Zonal Coordinator, Adamu Al-Abdullahi, made the disclosure during a press conference at Nasarawa State University, Keffi, on Monday, warning that the situation could trigger fresh industrial unrest in Nigerian universities.
His comments came as a direct response to claims by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, that the agreement had been fully implemented.
“It is exactly five months since the fanfare that accompanied the signing of the FG/ASUU Agreement after a protracted negotiation spanning eight years. However, the claim that the Federal Government has fully implemented the agreement is far from the realities on the ground in federal universities,” Al-Abdullahi said.
ASUU alleged that lecturers across federal and state universities were still dealing with unpaid entitlements, salary shortfalls, pension crises, and irregular welfare packages.
The union accused the government of abandoning the agreed implementation framework and allowing individual universities to apply the agreement selectively, with administrators reportedly choosing which allowances to pay, including the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, Earned Academic Allowance, and Professorial Allowance.
ASUU also faulted the government for failing to inaugurate the implementation monitoring committee meant to ensure uniform execution of the agreement.
“The Federal Government has left it to individual universities to implement in a distorted and uncoordinated manner,” Al-Abdullahi said.
Beyond the implementation gaps, the union listed several unresolved welfare issues, including arrears of the 25 to 35 percent salary award, promotion arrears, withheld salaries from the 2022 strike, unpaid pension contributions, and unremitted third-party deductions.
ASUU also criticised the continued application of the “No Work, No Pay” policy against lecturers who participated in the 2022 industrial action, arguing that academics continued research and community service even during strikes.
“Withholding salaries of university lecturers on account of ‘no work, no pay’ is like reducing scholars to menial workers whose livelihood is anchored in physical appearances at their worksite,” he said.
The union raised additional concerns over irregular appointments in university administration, including the emergence of positions such as “Professor of Practice” and “Diaspora Professors,” with some appointments allegedly made outside established procedures and without the knowledge of university senates.
“In the process, people with doubtful academic credentials find their way into the university system, and some even rise to become vice chancellors,” ASUU alleged.
Some state governors were also accused of distancing themselves from the agreement despite having representatives at the negotiating table.
“We want to sound this clear: no country can progress when the welfare issues of academics are left unattended,” Al-Abdullahi declared.
Nigeria’s public universities have faced repeated shutdowns over the past decade due to prolonged ASUU strikes, with the union consistently accusing governments of failing to honour signed agreements
Digital Operations Manager at The Students Forum Nigeria.
