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 that the continued delay could trigger industrial action across the state’s tertiary institutions.
Speaking on behalf of the zonal leadership during a press conference 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 that the union considered it necessary to alert 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.
ASUU explained that the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement, which took financial effect from January 1, 2026, 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.
The union, however, lamented that six months after the implementation date, lecturers in Ondo State-owned tertiary institutions were yet to receive 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 said, faulting the state’s decision to constitute a committee to review an agreement already negotiated and approved nationally.
He argued that Ondo State, as one of Nigeria’s leading oil-producing states and a beneficiary of the 13 per cent derivation fund, has 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 the delays 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 added.
ASUU 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.
The union also urged the government to discontinue what it described as unnecessary bureaucratic processes and committee-induced delays.
“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, the Ondo State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, said the state government had already begun 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,” he said.
Ajibefun added that none of the states within the ASUU Akure Zone had fully implemented the agreement, noting that Ondo State had already taken proactive steps towards its implementation.
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