Abia State Resolves ASUU ABSU Strike, Pays Check-Off Dues

The Abia State Government has announced the resolution of all issues that triggered the recent indefinite strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities chapter at Abia State University, Uturu, with outstanding check-off dues paid and a new consolidated salary scale processed for payment alongside the August 2026 salary. 

The announcement was made by Commissioner for Information Prince Okey Kanu on Monday during a press briefing at Government House, Umuahia, following a State Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti — a briefing that signalled the end of an industrial action that had drawn significant public attention to the welfare conditions facing academic staff at the state university. 

Kanu explained that the strike was rooted in longstanding staff welfare concerns, including unpaid check-off deductions and a salary structure that had not been updated to reflect academic, student teaching, and related allowances in a consolidated form. 

Governor Otti had approved the union’s demands as far back as April 2026, but Kanu acknowledged that implementation was delayed by administrative processes within the state bureaucracy. 

To break the logjam, the governor last week issued a direct 48-hour directive to a committee led by the Secretary to the State Government to resolve the outstanding matters without further delay. 

The commissioner confirmed that the directive produced results — outstanding check-off dues have been paid, the new salary scale for academic staff has been processed and will be reflected in the August 2026 salary payment, and a corresponding new salary scale for other categories of ABSU staff has also been processed and will be paid this month.

The outcome represents a significant development not only for the approximately 557 lecturers whose welfare conditions had deteriorated across multiple administrations, but also for students of Abia State University whose academic activities were disrupted by the withdrawal of services that began on August 11. 

ASUU had made clear during the strike that even if financial demands were resolved, the suspension of lecturer Prof. Nnamdi Nwaeze — whose Facebook post about staff conditions triggered his dismissal on the same day the strike began — would also need to be addressed before the action was called off. 

Kanu’s briefing did not specifically address the Nwaeze suspension by name, though the government’s broader assurance that all issues have been concluded and resolved suggests the question was part of the overall settlement framework discussed.

Kanu used the occasion to frame the resolution as evidence of Governor Otti’s genuine responsiveness to organised labour, noting that the 48-hour turnaround on a matter that had waited since April was a deliberate demonstration of the administration’s commitment to workers’ welfare. 

“This administration remains committed to constructive engagements with ASUU and other organized labour unions, while ensuring that workers’ welfare remains a priority,” he said. 

For ASUU members who attended more than 30 meetings, served a 14-day ultimatum, and watched agreements go unimplemented for months before resorting to industrial action, the conclusion is a hard-won outcome — and one the union will be watching closely to ensure that what has been processed this month is fully and permanently embedded into the university’s payroll going forward.