The Academic Staff Union of Universities has accused the Federal Government of failing to fully implement the 2025 FG/ASUU Agreement, barely five months after both parties signed the deal aimed at restoring stability to Nigerian universities.
ASUU, Abuja Zone, 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.
Speaking during a press conference held at Nasarawa State University, Keffi, on Monday, the Zonal Coordinator of ASUU Abuja Zone, Adamu Al-Abdullahi, warned that the government’s failure to faithfully implement the agreement could trigger fresh industrial unrest in public universities.
He said, “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 FG has fully implemented the agreement is far from the realities on ground in federal universities.”
The union accused the Federal Government of abandoning the implementation framework agreed upon during negotiations and allowing universities to apply the agreement selectively.
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,” he said.
ASUU alleged that university administrators were now “picking and choosing” which components of approved allowances to pay, including the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, Earned Academic Allowance and Professorial Allowance.
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.