• Rejects ABSU lecturer’s suspension, vows to sustain indefinite strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has renewed its demand for the payment of withheld salaries and the resolution of other outstanding welfare issues affecting university lecturers.

It warns that the Federal Government must address the grievances to ensure stability in Nigerian Public Universities.

The ASUU President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, stated this on Friday evening while briefing journalists at the ASUU Secretariat of the University of Jos.

Piwuna said that the government must urgently address all outstanding issues of academic staff welfare and other matters arising from the Federal Government of Nigeria-ASUU agreement of December 2025.

He said that this is critical to restoring confidence among university lecturers and creating the conditions necessary for effective teaching, research and learning in the nation’s public universities.

The ASUU President also used the briefing to raise additional concerns about Nigeria’s socio-economic situation, calling for a fundamental shift in government policies ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He said political parties and their candidates must make the welfare of Nigerians, wealth creation, poverty reduction, education, and economic development central to their programmes, rather than relying on policies that provide temporary relief without addressing the structural causes of hardship.

Piwuna particularly criticised what he described as “IMF and World Bank Dictated Poverty Alleviation Policies” since such approaches should give way to more participatory and inclusive programmes based on Nigeria’s peculiarities.

MEANWHILE, the Abia State University (ABSU) Branch of ASUU has rejected the suspension of one of its members, Prof. Nnamdi Nwaeze, describing the action as unacceptable, vowing to sustain its ongoing indefinite strike until the suspended academic is recalled.

The union commenced an indefinite strike action on Tuesday, August 11, over unpaid salaries. The next day, the university’s management suspended Prof. Nwaeze, a lecturer in the Department of Economics, over what it described as his social media posts, which it considered inimical to the interests of the university and its visitor, Governor Alex Otti.

Reacting to the ongoing strike action and the suspension of the lecturer, Chairman of ASUU branch in ABSU, Dr Chidi Mbah, explained that the union had made its position clear during a meeting with the university management.

Mbah said if the university had any justification for suspending the lecturer, it ought to have followed the procedures stipulated in the university’s edict.

He said: “For us in ASUU, we did not see anything wrong with what Prof. Nwaeze did. Allegations of previous wrongdoing against the lecturer were neither presented to the union nor known to it; any alleged offences should have been addressed when they occurred.”

Mbah also confirmed Nwaeze’s claims in the social media post regarding lecturers’ salaries and welfare, stressing that ABSU lecturers were still being paid under the 2009 ASUU-Federal Government salary structure.

According to him, promoted lecturers are not placed on the appropriate salary scales, while staff members receive only half of their salaries.

He further alleged that N473 million deducted from workers’ cooperative funds had not been remitted, noting that although the issue originated under a previous administration, the current government was expected to resolve it because government is a continuum.