Imo Varsity ASUU To Sustain Strike Over Non-implementation Of 2025 Agreement

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Imo State University (IMSU) chapter, has vowed to sustain  the ongoing strike until the full implementation of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement and the resolution of outstanding welfare  affecting its members.

The union, which commenced the industrial action on August 10, 2026, said its demands remained unmet despite several engagements with the university management and Governing Council.

Addressing journalists at the university premises,  ASUU-IMSU chairperson, Comrade Stephen Oguji, declared that the union would not suspend the strike without concrete and verifiable commitments.

Oguji stressed that the union had written seven letters to the university management, held two meetings with the administration, and sent three letters to the Governing Council, alongside two engagements with relevant stakeholders, without achieving a satisfactory resolution.

He noted that about twelve universities embarked on similar strikes when IMSU’s action began, but several had since resolved their disputes.

According to him, the 2025 agreement, signed in December 2025 and effective from January 1, 2026, had been implemented in federal universities and at least 26 states.

“ASUU-IMSU is on strike, and the strike remains in force. The scheduling of examinations cannot erase this reality, nor can any administrative declaration substitute for a genuine resolution of the issues in dispute,” he stated.

The union accused the university management of failing to address the dispute and alleged that some of its members had faced threats, arrest and detention.

They also claimed that non-academic and casual staff had been used to conduct examinations during the industrial action. ASUU-IMSU further alleged that the Vice-Chancellor,  wrote to the university’s Visitor claiming that the union was not on strike, while the management scheduled second-semester examinations for the 2025/2026 academic session to begin on Monday.

The union insisted that proceeding with examinations amid the unresolved dispute would not restore normal academic activities and called for the suspension of actions capable of worsening the crisis.

The Union highlighted that they were not opposed to dialogue but rejected what they described as repeated appeals without concrete commitments.

They disclosed that meetings with the university management on August 27 and engagements with the Governing Council’s ASUU subcommittee on October 20 and 22 had failed to produce an acceptable settlement.

The lecturers outlined  conditions for considering the suspension of the strike, including payment of September and October salaries at the new rate, a time-bound agreement on salary arrears from January to August 2026, the constitution of a committee to conduct elections for heads of departments, and the cancellation of examinations conducted illegally by the  university management.