By Omoyeni Ojeifo
Five months after signing the 2025 FG/ASUU Agreement, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused the Federal Government of failing to fully implement the deal aimed at restoring stability to Nigeria’s university system.
The union said, contrary to recent claims by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, that the agreement had been fully implemented, lecturers across federal and state universities were still battling unpaid entitlements, salary shortfalls, pension crises and irregular welfare packages.
Persecondnews reports that the Zonal Coordinator of ASUU Abuja Zone, Adamu Al-Abdullahi, speaking during a press conference in Nasarawa State University, Keffi, on Monday, warned that the government’s failure to implement the agreement could trigger fresh industrial unrest in public universities.
“The claim that the FG has fully implemented the agreement is far from the realities on ground in federal universities.
“It is exactly five months since the fanfare that accompanied the signing of the FG/ASUU Agreement after a protracted negotiation spanning eight years, and till now, nothing has been done,” he noted.
According to Abdullahi, the government failed to inaugurate the Implementation Monitoring Committee meant to ensure uniform execution of the agreement and prevent bureaucratic bottlenecks.
“The FG has left it to individual universities to implement in a distorted and uncoordinated manner. University administrators are now picking and choosing which components of approved allowances to pay, including the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, Earned Academic Allowance and Professorial Allowance,” he explained.
The union also faulted some state governors for allegedly turning their backs on the agreement despite their representatives participating in the negotiation process.
Beyond implementation concerns, ASUU raised fresh alarm over lingering welfare issues affecting lecturers nationwide.
The union listed unresolved matters to include arrears of the 25–35 per cent salary award, promotion arrears, withheld salaries linked to the 2022 ASUU strike, unpaid pension contributions and unremitted third-party deductions.
“We want to sound this clear, no country can progress when the welfare issues of academics are left unattended,” Abdullahi declared.
He further criticised the Federal Government’s application of the “No Work, No Pay” policy against lecturers who participated in the 2022 industrial action, insisting that university lecturers continued research and community service activities 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.
ASUU also accused pension authorities of frustrating retired academics through delayed harmonisation of pension benefits and alleged that some state universities still had no functional pension scheme for workers.
The latest complaints from ASUU come despite repeated assurances by the Federal Government that the 2025 agreement would permanently address the longstanding disputes that have triggered multiple university strikes over the years.
Persecondnews recalls that the 2025 FG/ASUU Agreement was widely celebrated after years of negotiations over university funding, lecturers’ welfare, earned allowances and the contentious Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
The renegotiated agreement between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was formally signed and unveiled on January 14, 2026.
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