ASUU Issues Fresh 4-Day Ultimatum

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) sparked tension on Thursday, March 26, by issuing a four-day ultimatum to the Federal Government. ASUU President Prof. Christopher Piwuna warned that unless the renegotiated salary structure is implemented by Monday, the union will meet to decide on a "strong response

Christopher Piwuna, ASUU president, shared this on Thursday while speaking at Sa’adu Zungur University, Yuli campus, in Bauchi state.

He said the ultimatum takes effect from Thursday, warning that failure to comply would trigger a strong response from the union.

“We have issued a four-day ultimatum from today to the federal government to commence payment of the newly approved salary structure. Failure to comply will attract a strong response from the union,” Piwuna stated.

In January, ASUU signed a renegotiated agreement with the federal government to address the incessant strikes in public tertiary institutions.

The agreement, which includes a new salary structure for the lecturers, effectively ends a 16-year implementation stalemate surrounding the contentious 2009 FG-ASUU pact on the service conditions of public tertiary lecturers.

Speaking at the unveiling, Piwuna had expressed optimism that the union would not have to call for any strike before the government implements the new agreement.

However, nearly three months later, there are little indications that key aspects of the agreement would be implemented.

Last week, the ASUU president said some federal universities were unable to pay their lecturers full salaries for January, adding that he was not aware of any university that had paid salaries for February.

His comments came days after ASUU members at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) declared an indefinite strike over the non-payment of their full salaries, which was later called off after a series of meetings with the management.

Piwuna said the situation is largely due to practical difficulties surrounding the implementation of a new salary agreement between the union and the federal government, particularly the delay in passage of the 2026 budget.