The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has directed all its branches nationwide to halt academic activities due to the non-payment of June 2025 salaries. The union said the action follows its “No Pay, No Work” resolution. ASUU branches at the University of Jos and the University of Abuja have already commenced strike action in compliance with the directive. ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, confirmed the development on Monday in Abuja during an interview with Tribune Online. He explained that the affected institutions were only enforcing a standing resolution of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC), which stipulates that members should suspend work if salaries are delayed by more than three days in any month. Piwuna criticized what he described as the government’s indifferent attitude toward lecturers’ salaries, which he said are already modest. He also highlighted that since university workers were moved from the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS) to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), staff have continued to experience severe hardship due to frequent delays in salary payments. According to him, the union had engaged key government officials, including the Minister of Education and the Accountant General of the Federation, but the meetings failed to resolve the issue. As a result, the ASUU NEC decided to enforce the “No Pay, No Work” policy. He said: “What they are doing is just enforcing a NEC resolution. We have agreed at NEC that our members are going through a lot since our migration out of the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System. Certainly, our salaries are delayed for a week and sometimes 10 days before our members receive the paltry amount we get to help us carry out our duties well. “Therefore, we agreed that if there is no pay, there will be no work,” Piwuna said. “On whether other universities are joining the strike, the ASUU President said all institutions that have not been paid are expected to withdraw their services, insisting that this was the resolution at NEC and the only way to address the challenge, which he noted was being deliberately caused by some government officials, especially at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation. He stated that any institution yet to receive its payment would also join the action, emphasizing, “we are tired of repeatedly addressing this issue.” “We have spoken to the relevant authorities—the minister is aware, the Office of the Accountant General is aware. All those concerned are aware that this thing has been happening. “We’ve had meetings with them to express our dissatisfaction with the way our salaries are being paid, and they have not taken any action. We want to work, but we cannot because they have not allowed us to work,” he stated. Piwuna insisted that the government has no valid excuse for the salary payment delays, pointing out that there are no problems with the payment platform being used. He explained that once the funds eventually reach the universities, there have been no complaints of underpayment or non-payment. “This means the payment platform itself is not the issue. The delay is simply a deliberate act by the Office of the Accountant General to hold back the release of the funds,” he said. “The platform is working well, but those who make it work are not willing to make it work. We think it’s a deliberate act; that is the point we are making,” the ASUU President added. He, however, pointed out that while salary delays are the union members’ most pressing concern at the moment, the government must also urgently release the outstanding N10 billion in Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) to prevent another round of industrial action. He pointed out that although the Federal Government was obligated to pay lecturers N50 billion in outstanding Earned Academic Allowance (EAA), it has so far released only N40 billion, leaving an unpaid balance of N10 billion. “On the EAA you talked about, the total amount was N50 billion, and what they gave to us is N40 billion. N10 billion is still outstanding. We hope that this is paid quickly so that we do not have to fight over it,” the ASUU President said.