The Federal Government has accused the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of delaying the disbursement of N50 billion allocated for the revitalisation of public universities.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made this known during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, where he said most of ASUU’s longstanding demands have already been addressed by the current administration.
Alausa dismissed claims that the government has been slow or unwilling to meet the union’s requests, insisting that the Tinubu administration has maintained consistent engagement with ASUU since assuming office.
“With all due respect to the president of ASUU, what he said about the three weeks and the government not responding, it’s not true.
“We have addressed most of these issues in an ongoing manner. There was never a time when we were delaying ASUU at all. I told them that with this government, we would negotiate with all truthfulness with you,” he said.
Alausa explained that the Tinubu administration inherited the needs assessment programme and budgeted N150 billion for it in 2025, to be released in three tranches.
According to him, the first tranche has already been disbursed, which is N50 billion, but the funds remain unused due to ASUU’s internal disagreements on how the money should be shared.
“I met with ASUU that the first tranche has been released, but then there was a little bit of a nomenclature change.
“It is ASUU themselves that have delayed the release of this money to their various bank accounts. That money has been sitting in the needs assessment account for almost six weeks now,” he said
The minister noted that the government has also made payment of N50 billion in earned academic allowances and the release of funds under the needs assessment programme.
The minister urged ASUU to cooperate with the government and allow the funds to be disbursed to institutions to improve facilities, stressing that President Tinubu’s administration has demonstrated commitment to revitalising the university system.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) began a two-week total and comprehensive warning strike on Monday, October 13, after accusing the Federal Government of neglecting its long-standing demands despite multiple opportunities for dialogue.
The union’s president, Professor Chris Piwuna, said the decision followed the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum issued on September 28, after a meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) held in Sokoto. He explained that ASUU had given the government a three-week window to address key grievances but received no concrete response within that period.
The union maintained that the government’s delay in fulfilling prior agreements and addressing welfare and institutional issues left it with no choice but to embark on the strike.
In response, the Federal Government warned that it would enforce the “no work, no pay” policy if the union proceeded with the industrial action.