The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Port Harcourt branch, has declared an indefinite strike over incomplete salary payments and outstanding responsibility allowances owed to its members.
The union said the decision followed the failure of the university management to address its demands despite a meeting with the union and assurances that the issues would be resolved.
The ASUU branch also alleged that its members had been excluded from the monthly payment of responsibility allowances received by members of other unions for more than two years.
The ASUU Secretary at the University of Port Harcourt, Tarila Amakoromo, disclosed this in a statement issued to journalists on Thursday.
Amakoromo said the decision followed an emergency congress held on September 11, 2026, during which the union gave the university administration 48 working hours to resolve the issues.
According to him, the deadline expired at midnight on Tuesday, September 15, without the demands being addressed.
He said the union subsequently held another emergency congress on Wednesday, September 16, where members resolved to commence an indefinite strike.
The union listed incomplete payment of lecturers’ salaries for June, July and August 2026 among its major grievances.
It also cited incomplete payment of responsibility allowances to lecturers and non-payment of the allowances to members under CONMESS and CONHESS, including lecturers in the School of Health Sciences.
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ASUU further accused the university administration of sidelining its members in the monthly payment of responsibility allowances to members of other unions for more than two years.
The statement read in part: “A strike action has been declared by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Port Harcourt Branch following the University Administration’s failure to address the demands of the Union.”
Amakoromo said the university administration met with the union on September 11 and promised to respond to the demands before the expiration of the 48-hour deadline.
“Regrettably, the University Administration, in spite of meeting with the Union on the same day and promising to respond to the Union’s demands before the deadline given by Congress, refused to act as promised,” he said.
According to the union, the failure of the administration to resolve the issues prompted the branch to declare the indefinite strike.
During the strike, ASUU members are expected to suspend academic and official duties, including lectures, examinations, examination invigilation, official assignments and statutory meetings.
“For the avoidance of doubt, members of ASUU are not supposed to give lectures or examinations, invigilate examinations, participate in any official assignment or statutory meetings during the strike action,” the union said.
The branch also constituted a strike monitoring team to ensure compliance across the university’s main campus and other centres.
The development comes days after the national leadership of ASUU warned that it could reactivate its suspended nationwide strike if outstanding issues involving lecturers’ welfare and the implementation of the 2025 agreement were not resolved.