Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Benin Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has issued a stern warning to the governments of Edo, Delta, and Ondo states, threatening to shut down academic activities in seven state-owned universities if the 2025 Federal Government/ASUU Agreement is not implemented in the July salary payment. The union gave the ultimatum at a press conference on Monday, June 29, 2026, in Benin City, declaring that its members’ patience had been exhausted after six months of waiting for concrete action.
The affected institutions are Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma; Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko; Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa; Delta State University, Abraka; University of Delta, Agbor; Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba; and Southern Delta University, Ozoro.
Addressing journalists, the Zonal Coordinator of ASUU Benin Zone, Prof. Monday Igbafen, said the union had exhausted all avenues of engagement with the governors of the affected states. He noted that while all federal universities and at least ten state-owned universities across the country had fully implemented the agreement—including the payment of arrears—none of the state universities in the Benin Zone had done so.
Igbafen accused the affected state governments of failing to provide the financial backing required for implementation, describing the situation as both provocative and unjust. “Our members in these institutions are being shortchanged by the governors and Visitors of Edo, Ondo, and Delta states, who have failed to provide the financial backing required for implementation,” he said.
The agreement, formally unveiled on January 14, 2026, by the federal government, was meant to bring an end to years of struggle to renegotiate the 2009 Agreement and secure enduring industrial peace in public universities. The Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) were mandated to communicate the implementation directive to all state governors and Visitors to state universities.
The union is demanding that the July salaries of its members in the affected institutions must reflect the Consequential Adjustment of Total Consolidated Academic Allowance (CATA) and all other allowances stipulated in the agreement, while arrears from January 2026 must also be paid in full.
“The patience of our congresses in these universities has been exhausted. For six months, our members have awaited concrete steps toward the implementation of the agreement. In return, they have been met only with trivialisation and disregard,” Igbafen said. He warned: “We state, with all sense of responsibility, that any failure or further prevarication by the three state governments will inevitably provoke a total, comprehensive, and indefinite industrial action”.
ASUU disclosed that its branches in the affected universities had begun mobilising members for industrial action, warning that failure by the governments to immediately implement the agreement could result in a complete shutdown of academic activities.
“We therefore inform you that our congresses in the affected state universities have commenced full mobilisation for a total, comprehensive, and indefinite strike, in response to the persistent failure of the governments of Edo, Ondo, and Delta states to honour the agreement,” Igbafen declared.
The union reiterated its commitment to industrial peace, insisting that prompt implementation of the agreement was the only path to lasting harmony.
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