Lecturers may strike as AAU‑ASUU protests non‑implementation of 2025 agreement with Nigerian government

Ambrose Alli University (AAU) in Ekpoma, the local chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has warned that it may launch an industrial strike if the federal government fails to enforce the 2025 agreement reached with the union.

According to the DAILY POST, the university’s ASUU chairman, Dr. Cyril Oziegbe Onogbosele, and secretary, Dr. William, made the statement to reporters in Benin City.

The statement announced that the union has begun full mobilization for a “total, comprehensive and indefinite strike,” citing the state government’s continued failure to implement the 2025 Federal Government/ASUU Agreement at AAU.

Both officials said the decision to take industrial action was adopted at a congress held on Wednesday, 24 June 2026.

In the declaration, the union said its patience had been exhausted: “For six months, we have waited for concrete steps toward implementation, yet none have materialized.”

“It is with profound disappointment that we state that every effort to persuade the university authorities and the Edo State Government to honour the agreement has been met with trivialization and disregard,” the statement added.

After a well‑attended congress on the main campus in Ekpoma, the union resolved that, effective from the July 2026 salary, payments must include the CATA component and all other allowances stipulated in the agreement. All accrued arrears since January 2026 must be paid in full. “Any failure or derogation by the university authorities and the Edo State Government on this critical resolution will provoke and precipitate a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike,” it warned.

While acknowledging the positive disposition of Governor Monday Okpebholo‑led Edo State Government toward the university, the union expressed deep concern over the continued non‑implementation of the 2025 agreement at AAU. It noted that all federal universities and at least ten state universities have already implemented the agreement, including the payment of arrears.

Although the ASUU leadership remains committed to industrial peace, it insists that swift and full implementation of the agreement is the only way to achieve lasting industrial harmony. The union therefore urges the university authorities and the Edo State Government to act without further delay.