The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has insisted that its 2009 agreement with the Federal Government remains valid and binding, dismissing claims by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, that no such agreement was ever signed.

Speaking during an interview on Arise News last night, ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, accused the minister of being economical with the truth, stressing that the document was duly signed during the administration of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

“We had an agreement with late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2009 and that agreement was signed….. It was during this regime that the 2009 agreement was signed. It was signed with our (ASUU) President, Prof. (Aloysius) Awuzie,” he said.

Dr. Alausa had, on Thursday, denied that any agreement existed between the Nigerian government and ASUU, insisting that what the union had been referring to was merely a draft document from renegotiations that never received official approval.

But the ASUU President countered, noting that while subsequent attempts at renegotiation were not finalised, the original 2009 agreement remained a legal document. According to him, negotiations held with different government-appointed committees—chaired by Wale Babalakin (SAN), Prof. Musa Jubril, and the late Prof. Mimi Briggs—produced draft agreements, but none invalidated the signed 2009 pact.

“So, if the Minister is referring to the documents we had with Prof. Musa Jubril, Prof. Mimi Briggs, and now with Yayale Ahmed, yes, those were not signed. But it would be incorrect for anyone to say we never had any agreement with the government,” he explained.

Prof. Piwuna further disclosed that at a meeting with the Union on August 11, 2025, the minister himself acknowledged the existence of the 2009 agreement, albeit describing it as “a very long time ago.”

He pointed out that the agreement had legal backing, citing the amendment of the retirement age for university lecturers from 65 to 70 years by the National Assembly as part of its implementation.

“We have a copy of the signed agreement. The government itself has a copy of the signed agreement. NUC has that document. The Federal Ministry of Education has that document. Everybody who is concerned has that agreement. Salaries and Wages Commission has that document, former Labour Minister, Dr. Chris Ngige, also has it,” Piwuna added.

The Guardian reports that the renewed controversy underscores the lingering dispute between ASUU and the Federal Government over the implementation and renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, which has been at the centre of several prolonged strikes in Nigeria’s university system.

The development led to Nigeria recording an unprecedented 37 months of strikes in public universities between 2009 and 2023—equivalent to three years and one month.