North-East ASUU Leaders Back Taraba University Strike, Demand Full Implementation of 2025 Agreement

The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) across the North-East geopolitical zone has declared support for the ongoing industrial action by lecturers of Taraba State University (TSU), Jalingo, over the non-implementation of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement.

The lecturers are demanding the immediate implementation of the agreement and payment of all outstanding arrears owed to academic staff.

The ASUU leaders made their position known during a visit to the university on Tuesday, where they accused the Taraba State Government of failing to honour the agreed remuneration framework.

The delegation, led by ASUU Yola Zone Coordinator, Comrade Dani Mamman, described the alleged failure as a breach of legitimate agreements and disregard for the welfare and entitlements of university lecturers.

The union called on Governor Agbu Kefas to urgently implement the 2025 agreement for TSU academic staff and take decisive steps to address the grievances that triggered the strike.

The North-East union leaders expressed disappointment over what they described as the state government’s lukewarm attitude towards the lecturers’ demands, particularly as other state governments in the region had reportedly implemented the agreement.

ASUU Yola Zone, which comprises seven public university branches across Adamawa, Borno, Taraba and Yobe states, maintained that the grievances of the TSU branch were legitimate and required immediate government intervention.

The union said a fact-finding team constituted by the Taraba State Government had established that the universities it visited had fully implemented the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement.

According to ASUU, the report was presented to the union on September 24, 2026, following a verification exercise that began in August.

However, the union expressed concern that the state government was allegedly still conducting salary computations despite the conclusion of the verification exercise, describing the development as an unnecessary administrative delay.

It also questioned the government’s reported consideration of three implementation options involving 95 per cent, 98 per cent and 100 per cent of the agreed remuneration framework.

ASUU insisted that the verification and financial assessment processes had already been completed and that implementation should follow the payment template contained in the December 23, 2025 agreement.

“The remuneration framework must be implemented strictly in accordance with the payment template contained in the December 23, 2025 FGN/ASUU agreement, which was circulated by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission on December 30, 2025,” the union stated.

The agreement provides for several remuneration components, including Basic CONUASS, Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, Professorial Allowance, Earned Academic Allowances and responsibility allowances for designated academic and administrative positions.

The union further observed that Taraba State University remained among the very few universities yet to implement the agreed remuneration framework, possibly the only institution in the 19 northern states.

It warned that continued delay could undermine staff retention, institutional competitiveness and the university’s ability to attract qualified academic personnel, with possible consequences for academic standards and institutional stability.

ASUU consequently demanded the immediate and full implementation of the 2025 agreement without further consultations, committees or verification exercises.

It also called for the payment of all accumulated arrears in line with the financial computation submitted by the tripartite committee, strict adherence to the agreed payment template and meaningful engagement with ASUU-TSU to resolve the industrial dispute.

Reaffirming its solidarity with the striking lecturers, the union said academic staff had demonstrated considerable patience through sustained engagements, constructive dialogue and other efforts to resolve the disagreement before embarking on the strike.

It stressed that industrial harmony was a collective responsibility and warned that the patience of academic staff had limits.

The union also appealed to stakeholders, members of the university community and the general public to prevail on the Taraba State Government to honour the agreement, settle outstanding entitlements and bring the dispute to an amicable conclusion.