The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has stated that it will not participate in the eagerly anticipated meeting with the Federal Government to finalise the 2009 agreement with the union.

The high-stakes meeting, expected to be held at any moment from now at the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Abuja, aims to make a counter offer to the university teachers in a bid to turn years of stalled renegotiations into concrete and implementable commitments.

Although an official invitation from the Federal Ministry of Education indicated that the meeting was ‘between the Federal Ministry of Education and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)’, the union told The Guardian that it would not honour it.

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian on Thursday, ASUU President Prof. Chris Piwuna revealed that no formal invitation had been sent to the union.

Prof. Piwuna said: “We are not (part of the meeting). Because it’s their meeting, he’s not meeting with us.

“Why should we be part of the meeting? When we do our own meeting, we don’t invite them. This is their own meeting. We don’t even know the agenda, but we suspect it’s about our issues. We’re not part of the meeting. So there’s no need to even send an invitation to us”.

As of the time of filing this report, Education Minister Dr Tunji Alausa is still expected to attend the event, which will also honour 17-year-old student Nafisa Abdullah Aminu, winner of the World’s Best in English Language Skills at the 2025 TeenEagle Global Finals in London, United Kingdom.