ASUU Rejects Federal Government’s 35% Pay Rise Proposal for University Lecturers

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has rejected the Federal Government’s proposed 35 percent salary increase for university lecturers, describing the offer as unacceptable and far below the benchmark earlier recommended by the government’s former renegotiation chairman, Prof. Nimi Briggs.

ASUU President, Professor Chris Piwuna, confirmed the rejection in an interview with Daily Sun, following the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held in Abuja. He disclosed that all 89 ASUU branches across public universities in Nigeria unanimously rejected the proposed offer when it was presented at the meeting.

“The recent offer by the Federal Government to us was a 35 percent increase. When we had our meeting to suspend the warning strike, none of the 89 branches accepted the 35 percent increase,” Professor Piwuna said. “All the 89 branches of ASUU in Nigeria rejected the 35 percent increase. So, it’s a non-starter for us.”

He reiterated that the union remains firm on the salary structure proposed under the Prof. Nimi Briggs-led renegotiation committee, emphasizing that anything short of that would not address the long-standing issues surrounding lecturers’ welfare and the revitalization of Nigerian universities.