ASUU has directed 20 state universities to issue 14-day ultimatums before an indefinite strike over the haphazard implementation of its 2025 agreement.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has directed no fewer than 20 state universities to embark on an indefinite strike in two weeks over what it describes as the “haphazard implementation” of the 2025 renegotiated agreement between the union and federal and state governments.
The directive was contained in a statement issued on Monday by ASUU President Christopher Piwuna, following resolutions of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at the University of Abuja on August 8 and 9, 2026.
What the 2025 agreement promised and what went wrong
The strike threat comes less than seven months after what was hailed as a historic resolution to one of Nigeria’s longest-running labour disputes in the education sector. After nearly 16 years of stalemate, the federal government signed a renegotiated agreement with ASUU on January 14, 2026, following intensive negotiations concluded in December 2025.
The agreement provides for the payment of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA), Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) and professorial allowance measures designed to improve lecturers’ welfare and promote excellence in teaching and research across Nigeria’s public universities.
However, reports indicate that only about 10 state universities have fully implemented the agreement, leaving over 57 others in limbo and generating growing disquiet among academic staff at the subnational level.
NEC’s verdict: haphazard implementation and a lackadaisical federal government
Piwuna said the NEC was moved by what it described as the federal government’s failure to release the subvention needed to fully implement the agreement, alongside the broader failure of state governments to meet their financial obligations.
“NEC discussed the state of the struggle and noted that a significant milestone had been reached signing the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement, but frowned at the haphazard implementation and lackadaisical attitude of the Federal Government in the release of subvention to fully actualise the implementation of the said 2025 Agreement,” the statement reads.
The NEC directed the approximately 20 affected universities to first issue a 14-day ultimatum to their respective state governments before proceeding on indefinite strike to press home their demands.
The 20 universities on notice
The institutions directed to issue the 14-day strike ultimatum are: Nasarawa State University, Keffi; Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai; University of Medical Sciences, Ondo; Gombe State University; Plateau State University, Bokkos; Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba; Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma; Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa; Abia State University, Uturu; and University of Education and Entrepreneurship, Akamkpa.
Others are Emmanuel Alayande University of Education, Oyo; Kaduna State University; Kano State University of Science and Technology, Wudil; Northwest University, Kano; Enugu State University of Science and Technology; Imo State University; Niger Delta University; University of Africa, Toru-Orua; Bayelsa Medical University; and Taraba State University, Jalingo.
What comes next
The 14-day ultimatum period means the earliest the affected universities could proceed on strike is around August 23, 2026, a timeline that gives state governments a narrow window to respond before academic activities at 20 institutions grind to a halt.
ASUU’s decision to issue the ultimatum rather than immediately declare a strike reflects the union’s stated preference for dialogue, but its language leaves little ambiguity about what follows if state governments fail to act within the two-week period.
