2025 Agreement: Strike still in force, ASUU-IMSU declares

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Imo State University, has declared that the industrial action embarked upon by the union is still in force.

At a press conference at the institution, the Chairperson of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Imo State University Branch, Owerri, Comrade Stephen Oguji, insisted that the union will not suspend the action until concrete and verifiable steps have been taken towards the full implementation of the 2025 Agreement in the university.

He said that the scheduling of examinations cannot erase the reality, nor can any administrative declaration substitute for a genuine resolution of the issues in dispute.

He said: “We are here today, and shall remain vigilant, to insist that examinations scheduled in disregard of the ongoing strike should not proceed as though normal academic activities have been restored”.

According to him, the Union will continue to exercise its legitimate rights and pursue its objectives through lawful and peaceful means, adding that they are prepared to stand by their position and face the consequences of their principled stand.

He said: “A false claim does not become the truth merely because it is repeated or supported by administrative action”.

He recalled that the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Imo State University (ASUU-IMSU), has been on strike since 10 August 2026 to press for the full implementation of the 2025 Federal Government of Nigeria–ASUU Agreement in the university.

The agreement, which according to him is aimed at improving the welfare of university lecturers and enhancing their conditions of service, was signed in December 2025 and became effective on 1 January 2026.

He said that its provisions are applicable to both federal and state universities, subject to the relevant implementation arrangements.

Comrade Oguji said that the agreement has been implemented in federal universities and in at least 26 states of the federation.

The Chairperson said that before embarking on the strike, ASUU-IMSU, acting in accordance with directives from the Union’s National Executive Council (NEC), duly notified the university administration of the need to implement the agreement in IMSU.

He said: “We wrote seven letters to the university administration and held two engagements with it. We also wrote three letters to the Governing Council and held two engagements with relevant stakeholders. Regrettably, these efforts yielded no meaningful result”.

He recalled that when IMSU embarked on this strike, approximately 12 other universities, including Abia State University (ABSU), Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK), and Niger Delta University (NDU), took similar action over related issues.

He said that today, those institutions have received the necessary attention, and their disputes have been resolved, but unfortunately, 77 days into the strike, Imo State University remains without a concrete resolution.

According to him, rather than pursuing constructive dialogue and a negotiated settlement, the university administration has continued to act as though the strike does not exist, and its members have been subjected to threats and arm-twisting tactics, including arrest, detention, and eventual granting of bail.

ASUU said that the university administration has reportedly resorted to the use of non-academic and casual staff to conduct examinations.

More disturbing, according to him, is credible information available that, rather than working with the Governing Council to press for the Visitor’s intervention and facilitate a resolution, the Vice-Chancellor reportedly wrote to the Visitor claiming that ASUU-IMSU was not on strike.

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He pointed out that any consideration of suspending the strike must, therefore, be preceded by tangible commitments and verifiable steps towards resolving the outstanding issues.

According to him, the Union cannot responsibly ask its members to return to work on the basis of assurances alone, particularly after the prolonged delay and the experience of previous engagements.

As conditions to consider suspending the ongoing strike, the union reiterated the following, which include the actual payment of September and October 2026 salaries at the new salary rate, demonstrable payment, and a time-bound Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on salary arrears.

Others include the constitution of a committee for the election of Heads of Department, as well as the cancellation of examinations and postgraduate defences conducted during the ongoing strike, amongst others.