Students in 11 state-owned universities across seven Nigerian states may experience another interruption to their academic activities as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to embark on an indefinite strike over the failure of the affected state governments to implement the financial components of the 2025 Federal Government/ASUU agreement.
The warning was issued by ASUU’s Benin and Yola zones, which represent universities in Edo, Delta, Ondo, Adamawa, Borno, Taraba and Yobe states.
According to the union, the affected state governments have until the end of July 2026 to fulfil their obligations under the agreement. ASUU warned that failure to do so would leave it with no option but to begin a total and indefinite industrial action in the affected institutions.
Speaking in Benin City, the Benin Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Prof. Monday Igbafen, said repeated engagements with the governments of Edo, Delta and Ondo states had failed to produce meaningful results.
He explained that lecturers are demanding the implementation of the Consequential Adjustment to Academic Tools Allowance (CATA), payment of the Earned Academic Allowance (EAA), Professorial Allowance, as well as outstanding arrears dating back to January 2026.
Igbafen noted that all federal universities and several state-owned universities had already implemented the agreement, describing the continued delay by the affected states as unacceptable.
He warned that any further refusal by the three state governments to meet the union’s demands would inevitably result in a comprehensive and indefinite strike, urging the governors to act before the universities are shut down.
Similarly, ASUU’s Yola Zonal Coordinator, Comrade Dani Mamman, accused the governments of Adamawa, Borno, Taraba and Yobe states of failing to honour agreements reached with the union despite several rounds of discussions.
Mamman said the issues had been repeatedly addressed without any concrete implementation, stressing that the responsibility for any disruption to academic activities would rest on the state governments if they continued to ignore their commitments.
The universities affected by the planned action are: Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma (Edo State), Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (Ondo State), Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa (Ondo State), Delta State University, Abraka (Delta State), University of Delta, Agbor (Delta State) and Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba (Delta State)
Others include: Southern Delta University, Ozoro (Delta State), Adamawa State University, Mubi (Adamawa State), Borno State University, Maiduguri (Borno State), Taraba State University, Jalingo (Taraba State) and Yobe State University, Damaturu (Yobe State).
ASUU also disclosed that its branches in the affected institutions have begun mobilising members ahead of a possible strike should the state governments fail to implement the agreement before the payment of July salaries.
Although the union has not commenced industrial action, it warned that academic activities in the listed universities could be suspended if negotiations fail before the deadline. The threat does not affect federal universities or state-owned institutions outside the identified states.
