"No Need For Strike" — FG Says All ASUU Demands Have Been Met.

Tunji Alausa.

The Federal Government has insisted that it has fulfilled all the demands presented by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), asserting that there is no reason for the union to continue its ongoing strike.

The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, stated this on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, where he urged university lecturers to return to work.

“We have addressed every single request by ASUU; there is no need for this strike, and we are pleading with them to go back to school.

“We need to keep our children in school. If there is any group of people that I have met with the most since I assumed this position, it is ASUU,” Alausa said.

The minister dismissed accusations that the government had been slow or unwilling to meet ASUU’s demands, explaining the steps already taken to address the issues.

“The arrears of their earned academic allowance, we’ve paid ₦50 billion. The president swiftly approved that payment months ago. Why they had earned academic arrears was that they didn’t want the arrears to be mainstreamed as part of their salary, which was the best way, but they now came back and we talked to them.

“The earned academic arrears have now been mainstreamed as their salaries. There will never be arrears again.

“We’ve also addressed issues about the postgraduate supervision allowances, which are to be paid by the institutions, and I’ve been told that these are being paid.

“There are issues about the needs assessment money, which was not released. If you remember, this assessment was negotiated by them almost 20 years ago, but this government met those liabilities,” he said.

Alausa further noted that President Bola Tinubu remained committed to ensuring a fair working relationship with labour unions while maintaining stability within the higher education system.

“The President approved ₦150 billion of his assessment money in this 2026 budget; ₦50 billion of that has been released. The president promised us he would release this in tranches of ₦50 billion over three payments; the first one has been released, and it is sitting in the needs assessment account now.

“For us not to dispose of money, it’s ASUU that is holding those disbursements. The promotion arrears – we told them this will be paid with the 2026 budget, which will be appropriated as part of the 2026 appropriation budget – but what was causing the arrears, we’ve resolved that,” the minister said.

ASUU leadership had on Sunday night announced a total and comprehensive two-week warning strike across all public universities in the country.

The Union’s National President, Professor Chris Piwuna, explained that the 14-day ultimatum issued on 28th September 2025 had lapsed without any satisfactory action from the authorities.