The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Yola Zone, on Tuesday said Taraba State was the only state among the 19 northern states in Nigeria yet to implement the 2025 Federal Government of Nigeria/ASUU Agreement.
Comrade Dani Mamman, the Zonal Coordinator, decried the delay during a press conference in Jalingo, saying that despite the conclusion of the relevant verification, consultation, negotiation and financial computation processes, the Taraba State Government remained insensitive to the matter.
The ASUU-Yola Zone described Governor Agbu Kefas’s action as embarrassing, a grave breach of the legitimate expectations of academic staff and a regrettable demonstration of the government’s disregard for established agreements and institutional commitments.
The union also said the persistent failure of the Taraba State Government to implement the agreed remuneration framework was an insult to the North-East states.
The ASUU-Yola Zone urged the Taraba State Government to immediately and fully implement the agreed remuneration framework arising from the 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement at Taraba State University, without further unnecessary consultations, committees or verification exercises.
The union demanded the immediate settlement of all accumulated arrears arising from the delayed implementation, in accordance with the financial computation submitted by the tripartite committee; strict adherence to the payment template in the 2025 agreement; and immediate and meaningful engagement with ASUU-TSU to resolve the dispute in a manner consistent with the principles of collective bargaining, fairness and mutual respect.
“The Yola Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities hereby expresses its unequivocal solidarity with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Taraba State University Branch (ASUU-TSU), in its ongoing strike arising from the persistent failure of the Taraba State Government to implement the agreed remuneration framework consequent upon the 2025 Federal Government of Nigeria/ASUU Agreement.
“The Yola Zone views the continued non-implementation of the agreed remuneration framework, notwithstanding the conclusion of the relevant verification, consultation, negotiation and financial computation processes, as a grave breach of the legitimate expectations of academic staff and a regrettable demonstration of the government’s disregard for established agreements and institutional commitments. This situation is unacceptable, unjustifiable and inimical to the welfare of academic staff and the stability of Taraba State University.
“We wish to state unambiguously that our solidarity with ASUU-TSU is founded on the principles of justice, equity, collective responsibility and the protection of the legitimate rights and entitlements of academic staff. We consider the grievances of ASUU-TSU to be legitimate and deserving of immediate, decisive and unequivocal attention by the Taraba State Government,” the ASUU-Yola Zone said.
The union also expressed concern over the continued computation of salaries after the government’s own verification team had reportedly established full implementation of the relevant agreement in other institutions within the zone.
It called on Governor Agbu Kefas to act in accordance with the agreement, stating that the union would not accept any renegotiation.
“It is worth noting that the report of the Taraba State Government’s fact-finding team on its visits to state universities in the North-East geopolitical zone, officially presented to the Union on 24 September 2026, established that the institutions covered by the exercise had fully implemented the 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement.
“The Yola Zone considers this finding particularly significant and puzzling, given that other universities in the zone did not undergo fact-finding exercises but instead adopted the payment tables provided under the 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement. Nevertheless, having undertaken and concluded a verification exercise since August 2026, which established the level of implementation in the institutions visited, the Taraba State Government has no reasonable basis for subjecting ASUU-TSU to further avoidable administrative processes that could frustrate the implementation of the agreed remuneration framework.
“The Yola Zone is deeply concerned by the apparent continuation of salary computations after the government’s own verification team reportedly established full implementation of the relevant agreement in the institutions examined. The 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement, dated 23 December 2025 and circulated by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission on 30 December 2025, provides for key remuneration components, including Basic CONUASS, Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, Professorial Allowance, Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) and responsibility allowances for designated academic and administrative positions.
“These responsibility allowances include those applicable to Deputy Vice-Chancellors, University Librarians, Provosts, Deans, Directors, Deputy/Vice/Associate Deans or Provosts, Heads of Departments, Sub-Deans, Faculty/Departmental Timetable and Examination Officers, and Hall Wardens/Coordinators.
“In view of the reported confirmation of full implementation by the government’s verification team, the Yola Zone demands an explanation as to why the Taraba State Government is reportedly considering salary computations under three different scenarios of 95 per cent, 98 per cent and 100 per cent. The Union’s position is that the agreed remuneration framework must be implemented in accordance with the applicable agreement and the payment template in the 2025 agreement. The introduction of alternative implementation scenarios is unacceptable to the union.
“It is important to place this matter in its proper context. Taraba State University remains one of the very few universities — and, to the best of our knowledge, the only university within the 19 northern states, if not the entire country — that is yet to implement the agreed remuneration framework arising from the 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement.
“The Yola Zone considers this position embarrassing, discriminatory in effect and unacceptable within the Nigerian university system.
“The continued non-implementation also raises legitimate concerns about staff retention, institutional competitiveness and the capacity of Taraba State University to attract and retain qualified academic personnel. The Zone maintains that equitable remuneration is fundamental to the preservation of academic standards, institutional stability and the continued delivery of quality university education. The Taraba State Government must not allow Taraba State University to remain an unacceptable exception in the implementation of an agreement that has been concluded and implemented elsewhere.
“In view of the foregoing, ASUU-Yola Zone hereby declares its unequivocal solidarity with ASUU-TSU in the ongoing strike and states categorically that the relevant verification, consultation, negotiation and financial computation processes have been concluded.
“The government has been furnished with the necessary reports and documentation. There is, therefore, no legitimate administrative justification for further delay,” the union stated.
The ASUU-Yola Zone also said industrial harmony was a shared responsibility, adding that ASUU-TSU had demonstrated its commitment to peace through sustained engagement, constructive dialogue and considerable patience before embarking on the ongoing strike.
It urged the Taraba State Government to understand that the patience of academic staff had limits. It also called on well-meaning stakeholders, the university community and the general public to prevail on the government to act responsibly and bring the avoidable dispute to a just and timely conclusion.
The Nigerian Tribune reports that the Yola Zone of ASUU comprises seven public university branches across four states: Adamawa, Borno, Taraba and Yobe.
The universities are Adamawa State University (ADSU), Mubi; Federal University Gashua (FUGA), Gashua; Kashim Ibrahim University (KIU), Maiduguri; Modibbo Adama University (MAU), Yola; Taraba State University (TSU), Jalingo; University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), Maiduguri; and Yobe State University (YSU), Damaturu.
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