The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has announced that it has directed all its branches nationwide to suspend their services due to the delay in the payment of June 2025 salaries.
The union cited the implementation of its “No Pay, No Work” resolution as the reason for this action.
ASUU branches at two federal universities- the University of Jos and the University of Abuja have already begun strike in line with the directive.
ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, confirmed the development to Tribune Online on Monday in Abuja, explaining that the institutions awere merely implementing a resolution by the union’s National Executive Council (NEC), which mandates that if salaries were delayed by more than three days in any month, members should suspend their services until the payments were made.
Piwuna criticized the indifferent attitude of government officials toward the matter of lecturers’ salaries, which he described as meager.
He noted that ever since university workers were moved from the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS) to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), union members have faced considerable hardship as a result of delayed salary payments.
He revealed that the union’s leadership had engaged with key government officials, including the Minister of Education and the Accountant General of the Federation, but these efforts yielded no positive outcome. Consequently, the ASUU NEC decided to implement the “No Pay, No Work” policy.
He said: “What they are doing is just enforcing a NEC resolution. We have agreed at NEC that our members are going through a lot since our migration out of the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System. Certainly, our salaries are delayed for a week and sometimes 10 days before our members receive the paltry amount we get to help us carry out our duties well.
“Therefore, we agreed that if there is no pay, there will be no work,” Piwuna said.
“On whether other universities are joining the strike, the ASUU President said all institutions that have not been paid are expected to withdraw their services, insisting that this was the resolution at NEC and the only way to address the challenge, which he noted was being deliberately caused by some government officials, especially at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
He stated that any institution yet to receive its payment would also join the action, emphasizing, “we are tired of repeatedly addressing this issue.”
“We have spoken to the relevant authorities—the minister is aware, the Office of the Accountant General is aware. All those concerned are aware that this thing has been happening.
“We’ve had meetings with them to express our dissatisfaction with the way our salaries are being paid, and they have not taken any action. We want to work, but we cannot because they have not allowed us to work,” he stated.
Piwuna insisted that the government has no valid excuse for the salary payment delays, pointing out that there are no problems with the payment platform being used.
He explained that once the funds eventually reach the universities, there have been no complaints of underpayment or non-payment. “This means the payment platform itself is not the issue. The delay is simply a deliberate act by the Office of the Accountant General to hold back the release of the funds,” he said.
“The platform is working well, but those who make it work are not willing to make it work. We think it’s a deliberate act; that is the point we are making,” the ASUU President added.
He, however, pointed out that while salary delays are the union members’ most pressing concern at the moment, the government must also urgently release the outstanding N10 billion in Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) to prevent another round of industrial action.
He pointed out that although the Federal Government was obligated to pay lecturers N50 billion in outstanding Earned Academic Allowance (EAA), it has so far released only N40 billion, leaving an unpaid balance of N10 billion.
“On the EAA you talked about, the total amount was N50 billion, and what they gave to us is N40 billion. N10 billion is still outstanding. We hope that this is paid quickly so that we do not have to fight over it,” the ASUU President said.
Jurbe Molwus, Chairman of the ASUU branch at the University of Jos, announced that union members at the institution had withdrawn their services due to the delay in receiving their June 2025 salaries.
Molwus said this followed the National Executive Council resolution directing branches to take action when salaries are not paid by the third day of a new month, and the congress affirming the position. He said union members have abstained from lectures and statutory meetings.
The chairman added that whenever salaries are not paid by the third day of the month, lecturers would continue to withdraw their services until the payments are made.
He also said the strike monitoring team of the branch had been activated to ensure compliance.
