The Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund has expressed concern over the Federal Government’s failure to honor its agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), describing the situation as unacceptable.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Aliyu Dandutse, disclosed this after a closed-door meeting with the ASUU leadership at the National Assembly.
The intervention follows the ongoing two-week warning strike declared by the union over unresolved issues dating back to 2011.
Dandutse said the Senate would immediately initiate a negotiation process involving key stakeholders, including ASUU, the Federal Ministry of Education, and the National Universities Commission (NUC), to find a lasting solution to the crisis.
He also confirmed that the Senate would engage the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to resolve the lingering dispute over land ownership involving the University of Abuja.
“The Senate will interface with the FCT Minister on the land matter, and other concerns raised will be carefully studied. Appropriate steps will be taken to ensure an amicable and lasting resolution,” Dandutse said.
The Committee further urged ASUU to submit a comprehensive list of its demands in writing to enable the Senate to assess both immediate and long-term legislative and policy measures required to reform the university system.
ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, who spoke after the meeting, said the two-week warning strike stemmed from unresolved issues dating back more than a decade.
“We engaged the Federal Government for eight years without tangible results. The Yayale Ahmed Committee report, submitted in December 2024, was ignored until this industrial action began,” he said.
Piwuna reaffirmed that ASUU’s core demands — including sustainable funding, improved conditions of service, revitalization of public universities, and academic autonomy — remain unchanged.
He urged the Senate to push the government toward adequate funding for the tertiary education sector.
“Try us. Push the government to fund universities adequately, and you’ll see an end to strikes and an improvement in our global rankings,” Piwuna said.
The ASUU president also revealed that although the National Assembly approved ₦150 billion for universities, only ₦50 billion had been released so far.
