THE ACADEMIC Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kano Zone, has urged Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa state governments to immediately domesticate and implement the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU Agreement in their state-owned universities.
The union said the delay in implementing the agreement could undermine industrial harmony and disrupt academic activities across universities in the zone.
The Zonal Coordinator, ASUU Kano Zone, Mr Abdulrazaq Ibrahim, made the call at a news conference on Wednesday in Kano.
He said the Kano Zone comprised Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Bayero University, Kano; Kaduna State University (KASU); Kano University of Science and Technology (KUST), Wudil.
Others are Federal University Dutse; Northwest University (NWU), Kano; Sule Lamido University (SLU), Kafin Hausa and the Federal University of Technology, Babura.
He said funds had recently been released to federal universities to settle outstanding five-month arrears covering salary components of the agreement.
This, he said, include the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, Professorial Secretariat Administrative Allowance, and Earned Academic Allowance.
“While we acknowledge this progress in the federal universities, it is regrettable that some state governments have yet to honour the provisions of the agreement despite participating actively in the negotiation process,” he said.
The coordinator expressed concern that no state-owned university in the Kano Zone had domesticated or implemented the agreement.
According to him, institutions affected include KASU, KUST, NWU and SLU.
He noted that several state-owned universities in other parts of the country had already implemented the agreement, describing the situation in the Kano Zone as unacceptable.
Ibrahim urged the governments of the affected states of Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa to settle all outstanding entitlements and address lingering issues affecting their universities to ensure lasting industrial peace.
He said ASUU remained committed to ensuring that all its members benefited fully from the gains secured through negotiations that lasted from 2017 to 2025.
The union also reiterated its call for the payment of the withheld three-and-a-half months’ salaries of its members.
Ibrahim said ASUU rejected FG’s reported position against paying the withheld salaries, arguing that lecturers continued to carry out research and resumed their responsibilities immediately after the suspension of the strike.
He also decried the continued delay in remitting outstanding third-party deductions and pension contributions with PenCom covering both the pre- and post-Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System exit periods.
The union called on the relevant authorities to expedite the settlement of the outstanding obligations and ensure regular remittance of pension contributions to Pension Fund Administrators.
Ibrahim warned that continued delay or selective implementation of the 2025 agreement by the affected state governments could trigger industrial action.
“The patience, sacrifice and restraint demonstrated by our members over the years have been exhausted.
“ASUU will not hesitate to deploy all legitimate and constitutionally guaranteed means to protect the rights and welfare of its members if these state governments continue to neglect their obligations,” he said.
He appealed to parents, students, civil society organisations, and the general public to prevail on the affected states to honour the 2025 ASUU agreement.
On the state of the nation, Ibrahim expressed concern over the country’s worsening security and economic challenges.
He said terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, farmer-herder conflicts and other forms of violent crime had continued to threaten lives, livelihoods and national development.
He urged governments at all levels to fulfil their constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and property, while implementing measures to restore security, economic justice and sustainable development. (NAN)
