By Uche Amunike
The Academic Staff Union Of Universities (ASUU) strike has been announced by their leadership, confirming that a directive has been issued in more branches of the union, as a result of the delay in payment of their salaries.
Speaking, during an earlier interview with The Punch, the National president of ASUU, Prof Chris Piwuna stated that the union would invoke the no-pay-no-work policy on the federal government if they delayed payment of the June 2025 salaries.
Notably, the federal government is yet to pay the academic staff of various tertiary institutions their salaries.
The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics has also made threats through a statement released on Sunday night. They have vowed to embark on strike if the Tinubu-led administration does not pay their salaries.
In Jos, an announcement of the withdrawal of services by ASUU members has also been made by the Chairman of the University of Jos Branch of ASUU, Jurbe Molwus. The delay in the payment of their June 2025 salaries was also cited as their reason for the strike.
According to Molwus, the delay in the payments of salaries led to the resolution to take action when salaries are not paid by the third day of a new month, with the congress affirming their position. He also stated that the union members have abstained from lectures and every statutory meeting.
He also said that whenever salaries were not paid by the third day of the month there would be a continuous withdrawal of services by the academic staff.
He further stated that the strike monitoring team of the Jos branch had been activated to ensure compliance.
Bauchi state was not left out of the ASUU strike, as the union members of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in the state stayed off-campus after receiving a memo by the ASUU ATBU branch.
The ASUU Chairman in the institution, Dr. Angulu Haruna, averred that the delay by the federal government in paying their salaries was deliberate.
Hear him: ‘Usually, our salaries always span into the first week of the next month. While other government organizations are being paid, federal universities would be left out and would not receive payment.’
He explained that union members have experienced untold hardship as a result of salary delays ever since university workers from the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS) to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).
He further stated: ‘Whenever we ask, they’ll always tell us that it is because of the migration from the IPPIS, and we see that there is preferential treatment against us in favour of other organizations.’
The University of Abuja was not left out as there was a skeletal performance in the institution because most teachers stayed off campus as a result of the unpaid salaries.
Speaking off the record, was a lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University, who stated that most lecturers decided to obey the resolution of the National Executive Council and resolved to stay away from work pending the payment of the June 2025 salaries.
