By Peace Udugba -The Daily Torch Media
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has raised concerns over the continued non-payment of three-and-a-half months’ salaries withheld from university lecturers and the uneven implementation of the December 2025 agreement between the union and government.
ASUU President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, disclosed this while speaking on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, on Wednesday, September 16, 2026.
Piwuna said the union had expected the agreement reached with the Federal Government in December 2025 to bring greater stability to the university system, improve lecturers’ welfare and address some of the longstanding challenges confronting public universities.
He, however, expressed concern that several provisions of the agreement had either not been implemented or were being implemented inconsistently by the Federal Government and state governments.
“It’s really painful to have conversation on issues like this. Our expectation, when we signed an agreement in December 2025, was that we are going at this time to talk about progress that we have made, the stability in the system and concern ourselves with issues that affect Nigerians,” he said.
According to Piwuna, the agreement covers improved remuneration, funding for public universities and research support, among other issues, but its implementation has not met the union’s expectations.
Three-and-a-half Months’ Salaries Still Outstanding
The ASUU president also raised concerns over the continued withholding of part of the salaries owed lecturers from the previous administration.
He said three-and-a-half months out of the seven-and-a-half months’ salaries withheld from lecturers remained unpaid.
Piwuna acknowledged that the Federal Government had paid four months of the withheld salaries but said the outstanding balance continued to be a source of concern among affected lecturers. Recent reports have also cited ASUU’s position that the three-and-a-half-month balance remains outstanding.
The union president further said some universities were unable to fully implement the new salary structure, leaving lecturers in some institutions uncertain about their monthly payments.
“As we stand now, funding is not properly being done according to what was agreed to. Individual universities have to embark on strike before salaries are being paid. Some universities are cut off from the new salary structure,” he said.
State Governments Also Have Role
Piwuna stressed that the implementation challenge was not limited to the Federal Government, noting that state governments also had responsibilities concerning universities under their control.
He said some state governments had commenced implementation of the agreement, while others had yet to fully comply with its provisions, resulting in differences in the conditions of service across universities.
Piwuna cited Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, as an example of a governor who, according to him, had embraced implementation of the agreement.
“Only Governor Alex Oti of the South Eastern part has implemented it,” he said.
ASUU had also previously identified a number of states where implementation of aspects of the 2025 agreement had commenced.
Union Prefers Dialogue
Piwuna said ASUU had continued to engage government officials through meetings and letters rather than immediately resorting to industrial action.
“We have engaged them; the Minister of Education at federal level, we engaged Senator Larry Tejuosho, the chairman of the implementation committee monitoring of the Federal Government agreement. We have reminded them to do the needful,” he said.
ASUU has in recent weeks warned that unresolved issues, including unpaid salaries and incomplete implementation of the 2025 agreement, could lead to renewed industrial action. The union has said its position was a warning rather than an immediate declaration of a nationwide strike.
ASUU Calls for Increased Education Funding
On education funding, Piwuna identified inadequate financing as one of the major challenges confronting Nigeria’s public university system, particularly in research and infrastructure.
He urged governments to treat education as a major instrument for national development, saying ASUU had demonstrated willingness to compromise during negotiations over the percentage of government budgets allocated to education.
“So while negotiating with the government, we told the government to reduce the budget to 15 per cent and they agreed. Although it may be difficult, but it can be done incrementally,” he said.
Piwuna warned that continued failure to resolve the outstanding issues could deepen tensions within the university system.
He, however, maintained that ASUU remained open to dialogue with the Federal and state governments in the interest of stability in Nigeria’s public universities.
