In the wake of the latest strike threat by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Abia State Gov. Alex Otti has explained how his administration resolved a pay dispute with the union’s members, describing the strike that followed as “avoidable.”

Otti, speaking at the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce Meet the Governor Series in Lagos on Thursday, said tertiary education officials presented his administration with a list of requests from university workers, which he reviewed and approved after examining the financial implications.

He said the salary review was necessary because lecturers’ earnings had fallen sharply due to the naira’s depreciation.

“If somebody was earning ₦100,000 when the exchange rate was ₦400 (to the dollar) and then suddenly the exchange rate climbed to ₦1,400 and you are still paying ₦100,000, that’s wrong,” Otti said.

The approval was given in April, but Governor Otti said he later discovered that an implementation committee had been created despite the approval.

He described the committee’s work as unnecessary and said it delayed payment to the affected workers.

After the strike began, Otti said he called for the relevant files and directed that the workers be paid within 48 hours.

“And you know what happened?

“Within 48 hours, it was done,” he said.

Otti also linked his administration’s education reforms to a sharp rise in school enrolment across the state.

He said Abia now spends 20 percent of its annual budget on education and had introduced free and mandatory education.

According to the governor, enrolment doubled within two months of the policy.

The increase forced the state to hire 5,394 teachers from about 36,000 applicants, he said.

Otti said enrolment later doubled again, leading to the recruitment of another 4,075 teachers, who were undergoing two weeks of training ahead of the new school term.

Looming ASUU Strike

The fresh ASUU warning comes as several of its branches across the country have already suspended academic activities over outstanding salaries, allowances and arrears, raising fears of a wider disruption in public universities.

The dispute centres on the implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU agreement, which took effect in January 2026 after being signed in December 2025.

The agreement included a review of welfare packages, salary-related allowances, and other entitlements for academic staff.

The union has maintained that promises will no longer be enough.