The warning followed an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) held on September 5, 2026, at the Festus Iyayi National Secretariat Complex of the University of Abuja.
In a statement signed by ASUU National President, Professor Christopher Piwuna, the union said the renewed tension was caused by the non-implementation of the December 2025 agreement, unpaid withheld salaries and unremitted salary deductions.
ASUU said academic staff were still owed three-and-a-half months of salaries withheld during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, despite the current administration paying four months of the outstanding arrears.
The union said the value of the remaining arrears had declined by more than 50 per cent due to inflation and currency devaluation.
“We state for the umpteenth time that the lecturers have done the work for which they are being punished. They did it at huge cost to their physical and psycho-social well-being,” the statement said.
“Some lost their lives in the process and many are now managing life-threatening ailments. For healing and restoration in the Nigerian University System, we think the withheld salaries of lecturers should be released without further delay.”
The union also raised concerns over billions of naira in unremitted third-party deductions, including pension contributions, staff cooperative funds and union check-off dues.
ASUU linked the dispute over deductions to its continued opposition to the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
“ASUU-NEC is fully prepared to call out its members if nothing concrete is done to address this lingering problem without further delay,” the union said.
On the 2025 Federal Government–ASUU Agreement, the union expressed dissatisfaction with what it described as inconsistent implementation across federal and state institutions.
It, however, acknowledged recent interventions by the Federal Ministry of Education aimed at resolving salary arrears affecting federal universities of agriculture.
ASUU commended Abia State Governor Alex Otti for adopting the 2025 agreement and addressing administrative delays.
The union also cited progress in the implementation of the agreement in Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno states.
It said commitment pledges had also been recorded from Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa states.
However, ASUU warned governors of states that had yet to comply with the agreement that failure to implement it could trigger localised industrial action in the affected state-owned universities.
The union said it remained committed to dialogue but warned that continued inaction by the government could force it to reactivate its nationwide industrial action.
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