The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has asked the Federal Government to begin payment of the newly approved salary structure for university lecturers or risk a nationwide shutdown of public universities.
The union gave a four-day ultimatum on Thursday. Its president, Christopher Piwuna, said failure to meet the deadline would lead to further action.
Speaking at Sa’adu Zungur University in Bauchi State, Piwuna said the government must start implementing the new salary arrangement without delay.
“We have issued a four-day ultimatum from today to the federal government to commence payment of the newly approved salary structure. Failure to comply will attract a strong response from the union,” he said.
The development follows the renegotiated agreement signed by ASUU and the federal government in January to address long-standing disputes and reduce frequent strikes in public universities.
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A key part of the agreement is the revised salary structure aimed at improving lecturers’ welfare and addressing issues linked to the 2009 FG-ASUU agreement, which was not fully implemented.
However, ASUU said there has been little progress since the deal was signed. Piwuna noted that several federal universities are finding it difficult to pay salaries. Some have not fully paid January wages, while others are yet to pay for February.
At the University of Lagos, lecturers recently began an indefinite strike over unpaid salaries before suspending it after talks with the management.
ASUU linked the delay in implementing the new salary structure to challenges such as the slow passage of the 2026 national budget.
With the ultimatum in place, attention is now on the government to respond and avoid another disruption in public universities.