News
Again, Strike Looms As ASUU Waits For FG To Meet Demands
Barring last minute manoeuvres, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), may today, begin another round of strike over the Federal Government’s refusal to meet its demands.
Investigations, yesterday, revealed that the national leadership of the union wants to give the government the benefit of doubt and let the ultimatum the union gave it lapse before taking the next step.
This is just as the National Executive Committee (NEC), meeting of the union may hold, tomorrow, if government fails to do the needful, it was gathered.
The likely scenario is NEC rescheduling the meeting for today and tomorrow, if by midnight today the Federal Government does not reach them.
Also, the union has accused the government of buck passing by claiming that the delay in releasing funds to meet some of the union’s demands is caused by bureaucracy at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Speaking with newsmen, the Chairman of ASUU, University of Ilorin, UNILORIN, branch, who is also a member of NEC of the union, Prof. Moyosore Ajao, said the government is taking the issue with levity.
“By midnight on Tuesday (today), the deadline given the government to meet our demands would lapse.
“As we talk, it is not yet midnight and anything can still happen. However, in the event of the government not meeting our demands within the period given, the national leadership of the union knows what to do. It will call a NEC meeting.
“As I speak to you, I am in Ilorin and no meeting has been called. We don’t want a situation where the government will accuse us of not giving them enough time; we have given them more than enough time.
“The agreement to suspend our last strike was signed on December 23, last year. From then till now, it is almost nine months.
“What are they saying is delaying them in doing their part of the deal? Will it take them a year to get money to pay us?
“If the government is saying the delay is from the CBN, the bank is an agency of the government like the ministries involved in the matter, among others.
“I don’t think the government is saying that it is ASUU that will go and twist the arm of the CBN for it to release the funds,” he said.
Ajao added that as soon as the national leadership of the union knows where the government is heading, it would follow up on the next step.
It would be recalled that the union leaders and the government team met on August 2, this year to assess the level of implementation of last year’s truce terms and the union gave the government till the end of August to meet some demands.
The union wants the government to sign and implement the renegotiated agreement, mainstream the Earned Academic Allowances and pay the N40billion Revitalisation Fund.
The union and the Federal Government had a face-off that led to a nine-month-strike by ASUU last year.
The strike was called off last December.
But up until now most of the promises made by the government are yet to be fulfilled.
Other issues that union wants the government to address are the implementation of the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS), and the proliferation of universities, especially by state governments in the face of poor funding of the same.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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