VC rejects ASUU’s claim of resignation of over 200 lecturers

The Vice Chancellor of Kaduna State University (KASU), Abdullahi Musa, has rejected claims by the university’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that more than 200 lecturers, including professors, have resigned from the institution because of poor service conditions.

Musa, a professor, described the claim as misleading and unsupported by the university’s records, urging the public to disregard it.

His response comes hours after PREMIUM TIMES reported that ASUU-KASU had raised concerns over the alleged exodus of experienced academic staff from the university and threatened an indefinite strike if authorities failed to address its grievances.

At a press briefing in Kaduna, the union’s chairman, Abubakar Abdullahi, said more than 200 professors and other lecturers had left the university because of poor conditions of service and the failure to implement the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement.

He described the situation as a “haemorrhage” of experienced workforce and warned that the continued departure of senior academics could affect KASU’s academic programmes and reputation. The union also gave the university and relevant authorities a two-week ultimatum to begin full implementation and domestication of the 2025 agreement, failing which it said it could commence a total and indefinite strike.

However, in a statement issued on Tuesday, the vice chancellor challenged ASUU to substantiate the claim by providing the identities of the lecturers allegedly involved, their dates of resignation and the reasons they gave for leaving the university.

He said staff movements arising from resignation, retirement, transfers, and the pursuit of other professional opportunities were normal within the university system and should not be presented without context as evidence of deteriorating working conditions.

“Public discourse concerning an institution as important as KASU must be guided by facts and verifiable records, not sweeping assertions capable of creating unnecessary anxiety among students, parents and the University community,” he said.

KASU cites government interventions

The vice chancellor said the administration of Governor Sani had taken several measures to improve the welfare of academic and non-academic staff and address financial obligations inherited by the university.

According to him, the Kaduna State Government has released more than ₦800 million for staff welfare over the past three years, in addition to ₦146 million used to clear withheld salaries and outstanding SIWES allowances inherited from previous administrations.

He said KASU had consequently cleared the inherited withheld-salary obligations.

Musa also disclosed that the Kaduna State Government, KASU management and ASUU-KASU had established a ₦50 million monthly intervention to support the university.

In 2026 alone, he said, the government had provided more than ₦200 million in overhead funding for essential operations, including laboratory chemicals and reagents, students’ field trips, examinations and other academic activities.

₦300m spent on accreditation

The Vice Chancellor said the state government had also invested more than ₦300 million in the accreditation of over 57 academic programmes and resource-verification exercises for 60 postgraduate programmes by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

He said KASU had secured full accreditation for seven professional programmes from relevant regulatory bodies, including Nursing and Midwifery and Physiotherapy, as well as full accreditation for its newly established Digital Learning Centre.

According to him, the university has also expanded its academic and research capacity by establishing 14 research centres and two specialised institutes, including the Digital Learning Institute.

He added that KASU had introduced professional development programmes, including long-vacation training for teachers and other professionals, and secured a ₦1 billion competitive TETFund grant for commercial agriculture.

The university’s researchers, he said, had attracted seven high-profile international research grants in the past three years, in addition to several national and institutional grants.

Tuition fees reduced, scholarships increased

Prof. Musa also highlighted measures by the state government to improve access to higher education, including reductions in tuition fees across state-owned tertiary institutions.

He said the government had also paid more than ₦1.6 billion in local and foreign scholarships to indigent students from Kaduna State studying in Nigeria and abroad.

KASU, he added, had expanded international academic and research partnerships with institutions and organisations in Russia, Egypt, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, China and other countries, creating opportunities for collaborative research, academic mobility and capacity development.

The Vice Chancellor described these interventions as evidence of the government’s commitment to staff welfare, academic development, research and the overall growth of KASU.

ASUU lists unresolved grievances

Despite the management’s claims of increased funding and welfare interventions, ASUU maintains that significant issues affecting academic staff remain unresolved.

In its statement reported by PREMIUM TIMES, the union cited the non-implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU agreement, university autonomy, excessive workload, promotion arrears, death benefits, group life insurance, the 25 per cent and 35 per cent wage awards, and pension remittances among its outstanding grievances.

A KASU lecturer who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on condition of anonymity also said academic staff were experiencing serious hardship and urged the government and relevant authorities to intervene before the situation worsened.

The Kaduna State Commissioner for Education could not be reached for comment at the time of PREMIUM TIMES’ report.

VC urges dialogue

Musa acknowledged that some staff welfare issues remained unresolved but said the university management was committed to addressing them progressively and sustainably.

He urged ASUU-KASU to reconsider any action that could disrupt the academic calendar and impose additional hardship on students and their parents, arguing that established channels of engagement remained open.

He also advised the union to remain focused on the legitimate welfare concerns of its members and avoid being drawn into partisan politics or allowing genuine labour concerns to be exploited for political purposes.

According to him, the welfare of lecturers, the stability of the university and, above all, the education and future of students should remain the priority.

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“The University Management believes that constructive dialogue, rather than disruption of academic activities, remains the most effective path to sustainable resolution.

“Industrial action should be a measure of last resort, particularly where the Government has demonstrated willingness to engage and continues to commit substantial resources towards addressing outstanding issues,” he said.

The dispute, therefore, presents two sharply different accounts of the situation at KASU. While ASUU says the departure of experienced academics and unresolved welfare issues point to a worsening working environment, the university management insists that staff movements are normal and that substantial government interventions have been made to improve conditions.