There are indications that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was considering exploring the option of a binding legal instrument to ensure the interim agreement recently reached with the Federal Government was honoured and implemented. The ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, while confirming that both parties agreed to January 2026 as the commencement date of the new agreement, said he was hoping the government won’t “start the new year by breaking agreements with excuses.”
While disclosing that the union would meet the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, early in January to finalise negotiations and get the government’s commitment to implementing the newly signed agreement, he expressed concerns that previous Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) and Memoranda of Action (MoA) by past governments have never been honoured. Findings indicate that ASUU was already consulting its legal team to ensure the full enforceability of the new agreement beyond the lifespan of the current administration.
The move, insiders say, is designed to protect the pact from the fate that befell the 2009 FGN– ASUU agreement, which suffered years of neglect and stalled renegotiation. Piwuna said the agreement was jointly executed by the union’s leadership and the Chairman of the renegotiation committee, Mallam Yayale Ahmed, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and current Chairman of Ahmadu Bello University’s Governing Council.
Further investigations reveal that the union plans to lodge the agreement before a competent court, a step expected to confer legal force on its provisions and compel compliance by successive administrations. To this end, ASUU is scheduled to meet its lead counsel, renowned human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana, for a detailed legal review of the document.
Although Falana was not formally part of the renegotiation team, sources disclosed that he played a key advisory role in shaping some of the union’s positions during the talks. A source familiar with the process said: “The idea is to scrutinise the agreement for its justiciability and binding power. This is about ensuring that if the government defaults at any point in the future, ASUU has a clear legal pathway for redress.” The source added that the union was determined not to repeat past errors that allowed earlier agreements to remain largely unimplemented for over a decade.
“The plan is to anchor this agreement firmly in law so no administration can ignore it without consequences,” the source noted. Meanwhile, the renegotiation committee is expected to formally transmit the signed agreement to the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, on Wednesday, January 14, 2026. Upon receipt, the minister is expected to present the agreement to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for further consideration and presidential directives.
President Bola Tinubu is expected to guide the next phase of implementation through FEC resolutions. While the full contents of the agreement remain undisclosed to the public, excerpts shared with ASUU members indicate that most long-standing issues were substantially resolved. According to a memo signed by Prof. Piwuna, the agreement provides for a 40 per cent increase in lecturers’ salaries.
It also introduces an enhanced pension framework, under which professors retiring at the age of 70 are expected to earn pensions equivalent to their annual salaries. Perhaps most significantly, the agreement includes plans for the establishment of a National Research Council (NRC), with statutory funding pegged at a minimum of one per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a move aimed at strengthening research and innovation in the university system.
Additional commitments reportedly include improved funding for public universities and renewed respect for university autonomy, in line with provisions of the University Autonomy Act. With legal safeguards now firmly on its agenda, ASUU appears poised to press not just for a signed promise, but for an enforceable framework that could reshape industrial relations in Nigeria’s education sector for years to come.
