The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has suspended its two-week warning strike after fresh engagements with the Federal Government.
The union said it is giving the government one month to finalise the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and address other outstanding issues affecting public universities. ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, made the announcement on Wednesday in Abuja during a press briefing.
He said the decision came after “fruitful discussions” with government representatives and key interventions from the National Assembly. Piwuna explained that the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) met between October 21 and 22 to review the progress made since the strike began.
According to him, the council agreed that the warning strike had achieved part of its goal, especially in forcing the government back to the negotiation table.
“When we gathered here about 10 days ago to painfully declare a warning strike, it was a decision that left us with no other choice. The government had ignored our repeated overtures to address issues critical to the survival of Nigeria’s public universities,” he said.
The ASUU president confirmed that following the strike, the Federal Government re-opened talks with the union through a committee led by Alhaji Yayale Ahmed.
The two sides reportedly met on October 16 and 18 to review the government’s position on the draft renegotiated agreement. He noted that, although not all concerns were resolved, progress had been made compared to before the strike.
“We have not achieved all our objectives, but we are certainly not where we were before the strike began,” he added. Prof. Piwuna also praised the intervention of the Senate Committees on Tertiary Education and TETFund, the Labour Committee, and the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin. Their mediation, he said, helped restore confidence in the dialogue process.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that ASUU declared the warning strike on October 13, 2025, to protest what it described as the government’s neglect of key agreements and welfare demands.
The union said it decided to suspend the strike “in deference to students, parents, the media, the NLC, and other Nigerians” who had shown concern and worked behind the scenes to resolve the dispute.
ASUU, however, warned that if the government fails to meet its commitments within the next one month, the union will resume industrial action without further notice. “The struggle continues,” Piwuna stated.
