THE leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has directed all branches of the union nationwide to withdraw their services over delay in the payment of June 2025 salaries to its members, citing the enforcement of “No Pay, No Work” resolution.
Already, ASUU branches in the University of Jos and University of Abuja have commenced strike action in compliance with the directive.
ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, said what the institutions were doing was simply enforcing a National Executive Council (NEC) resolution of the union that any month in which salaries are delayed beyond three days, members should withdraw their services until the salaries are paid.
Piwuna decried alleged lackadaisical attitude of government officials toward the issue of lecturers’ salaries, which he described as a paltry amount, noting that since the migration of university workers from the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS) to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), union members have experienced significant hardship due to salary delays.
He explained that the union’s leadership has engaged relevant government officials, including the minister of Education and the Accountant General of the Federation, without any positive result; hence the ASUU NEC resolved to enforce the “No Pay, No Work” policy.
“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.
Asked whether other universities were going to join the strike, Piwuna said all institutions that had not been paid were expected to withdraw their services, as resolved at NEC, being the only way to address the challenge deliberately caused by some government officials, especially at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
The ASUU president noted that any institution that has not been paid would join the action, saying: :We are tired of talking about this. 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 have 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 that government has no genuine reason for the delay in salary payments, as the platform used for payments has no issues, adding that when the money finally gets to the universities, nobody has complained of being underpaid or not receiving their salary.
According to him: “The platform through which the payment is effected has not been the problem. It’s just a deliberate effort by the Office of the Accountant General to delay the release of the funds. 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.”
He said the issue of salary delays is the immediate challenge facing union members, warning that the outstanding N10billion Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) should be released promptly by the government to avoid another round of struggle.
He also explained that the Federal Government was supposed to pay lecturers N50billion in outstanding EAA, but only released N40billion, leaving a balance of N10billion, noting: “We hope that this is paid quickly, so that we do not have to fight over it.”
