October 8, 2025
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been urged to suspend its planned nationwide strike, as efforts are being made to address the their remaining concerns.
Federal Government, made appeal and also disclosed that the reconstituted Mahmud Yayale Ahmed Expanded Negotiation Committee will meet with the aggrieved unions soon to resolve lingering issues.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed these on Wednesday at a press conference in Abuja.
Alausa, stated that President Bola Tinubu has directed that every effort be made to avert the planned strike action.
“Mr. President has directed that we should do everything humanly possible to avert the strike, and that’s what we’ve been working on behind the scenes,” Alausa said.
READ MORE; ASUU Issues 14-day Ultimatum To FG Over Unresolved Seven-Point Demands
“People at the highest levels of government have been working several hours intensely to get a robust but affordable response back to our trade unions.
He added that “These are issues that have existed for 10 to 15 years, but this President has given us the political will to resolve them once and for all.”
ASUU, had last Monday issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet its seven-point demands or face industrial action. The decision was reached at the union’s National Executive Council, NEC, meeting held on September 28 at the University of Abuja.
The union’s demands include the re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, sustainable funding and revitalization of universities, an end to the victimization of ASUU members at Lagos State University (LASU), Kogi State University (now Prince Abubakar Audu University), and the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO).
READ MORE; ASUU threatens strike over varsities absence of governing councils
Other demands are the payment of outstanding 25–35 per cent salary arrears, promotion arrears spanning over four years, and unresolved third-party deductions.
The minister, however, stated that the government has already addressed most of the issues raised by the union.
“Eighty per cent of their demands have been met, and only about 20 per cent remain outstanding,” he said, emphasizing that the government remains committed to maintaining industrial harmony in the nation’s education sector.
