The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has directed all its branches nationwide to commence an indefinite strike following the non-payment of June 2025 salaries, invoking the union’s “No Pay, No Work” policy.
ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, confirmed the development on Monday in Abuja, stating that the action was in line with a resolution passed by the union’s National Executive Council (NEC), which stipulates that members should suspend academic activities if salaries are delayed beyond three days into a new month.
Already, branches at the University of Jos and the University of Abuja have withdrawn their services in compliance with the directive.
“What they are doing is just enforcing a NEC resolution,” Piwuna explained. “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,” he added.
The ASUU President expressed concern over what he described as the indifference of government officials, particularly at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, to the plight of university lecturers, who he said continue to endure hardship despite receiving meager salaries.
According to Piwuna, the challenges began after the migration of university staff from the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS) to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), which has since resulted in persistent delays in salary payments.
He noted that ASUU leadership had held several meetings with key government stakeholders, including the Minister of Education and the Accountant General, to address the issue, but these engagements yielded no tangible results.
“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 dismissed any suggestion that technical issues with the payment platform were to blame, asserting that the delays were deliberate.
“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 stated.
He warned that unless prompt action is taken to release the funds, more branches would join the strike, stressing that, “we are tired of repeatedly addressing this issue.”
In addition to salary concerns, Piwuna drew attention to the Federal Government’s outstanding obligation to lecturers in the form of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA). He said that although N50 billion was approved, only N40 billion has been disbursed so far, 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,” he said.
Meanwhile, at the University of Jos, the ASUU branch confirmed it had fully complied with the national directive.
Branch Chairman, Jurbe Molwus, said members had suspended lectures and statutory meetings due to the non-payment of June salaries, in accordance with the NEC resolution and congress endorsement.
“Whenever salaries are not paid by the third day of the month, lecturers will continue to withdraw their services until the payments are made,” Molwus stated.
He added that the union’s strike monitoring team had been activated to ensure full compliance.
