• Government says implementation underway
Fidelis David in Akure
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Akure Zone, has accused the Ondo State Government of failing to implement the financial provisions of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU Agreement, warning the continued delay could trigger industrial action across the state’s tertiary institutions.
Speaking on behalf of the zonal leadership during a press conference held on Wednesday at the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo, the Zonal Coordinator, Adeola Egbedokun, said the state government had ignored its obligations under the agreement despite being fully aware of its provisions.
Egbedokun said the government’s inaction had adversely affected the welfare of lecturers and undermined the effective functioning of state-owned universities, stressing the union deemed it necessary to alert stakeholders, including students, parents, civil society organisations and the general public.
“Despite receiving the agreement and being fully apprised of its obligations, the Ondo State Government has continued to actively ignore its provisions. This persistent inaction has adversely affected the welfare of our members and continues to undermine the effective functioning of the state-owned university system,” he said.
The union explained that the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement, described as the first comprehensive pact between both parties since the landmark 2009 agreement, took effect financially on January 1, 2026. According to ASUU, the agreement provides for the payment of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA), Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) and Professorial Allowance to improve lecturers’ welfare and promote excellence in teaching and research.
However, six months after the implementation date, the union lamented that lecturers in Ondo State-owned tertiary institutions had yet to benefit from the approved allowances, while arrears continued to accumulate.
“What is required is implementation, not prolonged committee engagements that merely postpone government action while lecturers continue to suffer the consequences,” Egbedokun declared, faulting the state’s decision to set up a committee to review an agreement that had already been negotiated and approved nationally.
ASUU argued that Ondo, being one of Nigeria’s leading oil-producing states and a beneficiary of the 13 per cent derivation fund, possesses the financial capacity to implement the agreement.
The union also accused the government of maintaining a long-standing pattern of delaying nationally approved welfare packages for university lecturers, warning that such actions had weakened staff morale, encouraged brain drain and threatened the quality of higher education.
“The consequences of this persistent delay extend beyond the welfare of lecturers. They directly affect students, research productivity, institutional stability, accreditation outcomes and the overall quality of graduates produced by our institutions,” Egbedokun said.
The union consequently demanded the immediate implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement across all state-owned tertiary institutions, payment of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, Earned Academic Allowance and Professorial Allowance, as well as the clearance of all arrears dating back to January 1, 2026.
It also urged the government to abandon what it described as unnecessary bureaucratic processes and committee-induced delays, insisting that the agreement required implementation rather than further reviews.
“Failure to act with the urgency demanded by this situation will leave ASUU with no option but to activate all lawful and legitimate actions available within the framework of a trade union to drive home its demands,” Egbedokun warned.
Responding to the allegations, the Ondo State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, said the state government had already commenced steps towards implementing the agreement and assured lecturers that action would be taken soon.
“I also want you to know that the agreement was signed by the Federal Government with ASUU and is to be domesticated by state governments. Most state governments have not also implemented it, so it is not just Ondo State,” the commissioner stated.
Ajibefun further noted that none of the states within the ASUU Akure Zone had fully implemented the agreement, adding that Ondo State had already taken proactive measures towards its execution.
“The zone to which Ondo State belongs in ASUU, none of the states has implemented the agreement. But Ondo State is working on the implementation. Ondo State has already taken proactive action on implementation,” he added.