ASUU Issues Strike Ultimatum to Tinubu's Government

• The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is preparing for a strike action against the Bola Tinubu administration
• Legit.ng gathered that the decision was reached during ASUU’s national executive Council (NEC) meeting held in Abuja
• ASUU national president, Professor Chris Piwuna, disclosed this in a strike notice personally signed and released to newsmen

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering education matters in Nigeria.

FCT, Abuja - The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has issued a 14-day strike ultimatum to the federal government.

Acoording to The Punch in a report on Monday, September 29, the union made the decision following a national executive council (NEC) meeting held on Sunday, September 28, at the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA).

PM News also noted the update.

Prof. Chris Piwuna, the national president of the umbrella body for university lecturers nationwide, made this known in a copy of strike action he personally signed.

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Piwuna said:

“At the NEC meeting held on September 28, 2025, at the University of Abuja, the union decried the neglect of the university system and the government’s consistent refusal to meet its demands.

“Accordingly, ASUU has given the federal government of Nigeria an ultimatum of fourteen (14) days within which to address these issues. If at the end of the ultimatum the government fails to act, the union may have no option but to first embark on a two-week warning strike, and thereafter, a total and indefinite strike.”

Piwuna listed ASUU’s seven demands as the re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-federal government agreement, sustainable funding of public universities, revitalisation of universities, an end to the alleged victimisation of ASUU members in LASU, KSU (now Prince Abubakar Audu University) and the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), payment of outstanding 25–35% salary arrears, settlement of promotion arrears spanning over four years, and remittance of outstanding third-party deductions.

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Legit.ng reports that Nigeria has more than 100 public universities, according to according to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). At least 15 recorded strikes have taken place in the universities since 2000. Striking lecturers often demand a review of their conditions of service and improved funding for the universities.

To avoid the frequent and disruptive strikes by university unions, many parents go to great lengths, often with financial strain, to send their children to private universities.

Read more on ASUU:

• ASUU awards 1.1m scholarships to students in Ibadan amid alleged maltreatment of members by govt
• ASUU announces scholarship award for undergraduates, mentions university that will benefit
• Fresh twist as Tinubu’s govt inaugurates committee to renegotiate 2009 ASUU agreement

ASUU threatens nationwide protests

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that ASUU resolved to embark on nationwide protests to press home its demands.

ASUU, in a communiqué, accused the federal government of foot-dragging on outstanding issues.

The organisation rejected a plan to conscript the union as a ‘guarantor’ of loans, under the Tertiary Institutional Staff Support Fund scheme, recently introduced by the President Tinubu’s administration.

Source: Legit.ng