The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to embark on another round of industrial action in Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa states if the governments fail to implement the 2025 agreement reached with the union.
The warning comes as the Federal Government has begun implementing key aspects of the agreement across federal universities.
Speaking at a press conference held at Bayero University, Kano, on Wednesday, ASUU Kano Zonal Coordinator, Comrade Abdulrazaq Ibrahim, said the Federal Government had started releasing funds to settle outstanding entitlements, but state-owned universities within the zone had yet to benefit because their respective state governments had not implemented the agreement.
The ASUU Kano Zone comprises Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria; Bayero University (BUK); Kaduna State University (KASU); Kano University of Science and Technology (KUST), Wudil; Federal University Dutse (FUD); Northwest University, Kano; Sule Lamido University (SLU), Kafin Hausa; and the Federal University of Technology, Babura.
According to the union, the Federal Government has already released funds to settle outstanding five-month arrears covering the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA), Professorial Secretariat Administrative Allowance (SAA), and Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) for lecturers in federal institutions.
ASUU, however, expressed disappointment that the governments of Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa states have failed to implement the same agreement despite participating in the negotiations that led to its signing in December 2025.
The union noted that several state-owned universities across Nigeria, including Sa’adu Zungur University, Ekiti State University, Osun State University, Benue State University, Sokoto State University and Shehu Shagari University of Education, have already adopted and implemented the agreement.
It urged the three state governments to immediately implement the agreement, pay outstanding allowances and address unresolved welfare issues affecting lecturers in their universities.
ASUU also renewed its demand for the payment of the three-and-a-half months’ salaries withheld from its members, insisting that lecturers continued carrying out research activities during the strike period and resumed academic work immediately after suspending the industrial action.
The union further criticised the continued delay in remitting third-party deductions and pension contributions to the National Pension Commission (PenCom), urging the relevant authorities to clear all outstanding liabilities and ensure regular remittances to Pension Fund Administrators.
Beyond university-related concerns, ASUU expressed worry over Nigeria’s worsening security challenges, rising cost of living and the effects of climate change, noting that terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and farmer-herder clashes continue to threaten lives, livelihoods and national development.
The union called on governments at all levels to fulfil their constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and property while implementing policies that promote economic justice, security and sustainable development.
ASUU warned that continued delays, selective implementation or outright refusal to honour the 2025 agreement could disrupt academic activities across universities in the zone.
It appealed to parents, students, civil society organisations, the media and the general public to prevail on the affected state governments to honour the agreement, warning that failure to do so could jeopardise industrial peace and negatively affect students’ academic progress.
