The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has announced the imminent possibility of a comprehensive strike due to the federal government's failure to honor previous agreements with the union.

One of the main grievances cited is the persistence of certain individuals exploiting the government through the Integrated Personnel Payment Information System (IPPIS), despite the Federal Executive Council's directive to remove ASUU from the platform.

Speaking to the press in Makurdi, Benue State, ASUU-Nsukka Zone Chairman, Comrade Raphael Amokaha, highlighted these concerns in a statement titled "Averting a Crisis."

He emphasized that those intent on undermining the FEC directive have introduced the Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS) instead of adopting the domestically developed University Transparency Accountability Solutions (UTAS), which ASUU provided to the government at no cost.

“it can be inferred from observations that the people that are benefitting from IPPIS are not ready to let go of the federal universities for their pecuniary benefits hence the transformation from IPPIS to new IPPIS and now GIFMIS. We urge the government to immediately fish out those behind this recalcitrant rent seeking and bring them to book,” he said.

The union also lamented the failure of the government to release the balance of the eight months withheld salaries of ASUU members likewise the non-payment of Earned Academic Allowances, EAA, and other emoluments and entitlements to its members.

Acknowledging the reconstitution of the Governing Councils of Universities by the Federal Government, the Union frowned at the illegal dissolution of some of the Councils that were yet to complete their tenure saying “the failure to reinstate these councils has added to the list of contentious issues.”

ASUU also wondered why the government had failed to honour its agreements with the union citing “the 2009 Agreement the government entered with the union through collective bargaining which had been completely neglected by the government after setting up several negotiation teams to reach a middle ground.

“It is our sincere hope that the President Tinubu-led government will be different especially as he promised Nigerians in his acceptance speech that there will be no more strikes in our universities.

“We are on the verge of a strike now! Mr. President may, therefore, wish to ensure that the impending action is averted in keeping with his promise to the Nigerian people, by directing the immediate signing of the draft agreement and implementation of the of the contents therein.”

This emphasizes the urgent need for sufficient funding for both state and federal universities. Since 1992, our union has consistently advocated for both the federal and state governments to allocate a minimum of 26 percent of their annual budget to education, in line with UNESCO's recommendations.