The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Taraba State University (TSU) branch, has issued a 14-day ultimatum to Governor Agbu Kefas, demanding the immediate implementation of outstanding agreements or face industrial action that could disrupt academic activities at the institution.
The branch chairman, Dr Joshua Garba Mbave, disclosed the development in a statement on Thursday, following resolutions reached at the union’s congress held on August 13, 2026. According to Mbave, the ultimatum took effect on August 13 and will expire on August 26, in line with directives and resolutions of ASUU’s National Executive Council (NEC) over the continued non-implementation of applicable provisions of the union’s agreement with government.
The union was firm that the ultimatum should not be mistaken for an invitation to further dialogue. “For the avoidance of doubt, the issuance of this ultimatum constitutes a formal demand for compliance and implementation. It is not an invitation to commence another round of open-ended consultations, nor does it constitute a request for further assurances, promises or undertakings unsupported by concrete implementation,” the union stated.
ASUU-TSU called on the Taraba State Government, the university’s Governing Council and its management to treat the matter with urgency and ensure full compliance within the 14-day window to avert further escalation of the dispute. The union also appealed to members of the public and other stakeholders to press the government to act.
Among ASUU-TSU’s core demands is the immediate and full implementation of all applicable outstanding provisions of the ASUU-FGN 2025 Agreement. The union is also demanding the immediate payment of financial arrears it says have accrued since January 2026.
The union expressed grave concern over what it described as the continued failure of the Taraba State Government to implement the agreement’s applicable provisions, despite previous communications from ASUU and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to the university administration, the Governing Council and the state government.
Thursday’s ultimatum is the latest escalation in a dispute stretching back several weeks. In early July, the union issued what it called a “final warning” to Governor Kefas, accusing the state government of failing to honour agreements reached with ASUU and describing the situation as a threat to the university’s future. By mid-July, the branch had urged the governor to conclude implementation of outstanding obligations including the Consolidated Academic Salary Structure and other negotiated terms within applicable timelines to preserve what it described as the “cordial industrial relations” then existing between the union and government.
Taraba State University’s dispute is one of several currently playing out between ASUU and state governments nationwide. Days before the TSU ultimatum, ASUU’s NEC authorised 20 university branches including TSU to begin procedures for industrial action, subject to their own 14-day ultimatums, over what the union described as the “haphazard implementation” of the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement and the “lackadaisical attitude” of the Federal Government toward releasing the subvention required for the pact’s full implementation. The other affected institutions span states including Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Gombe, Plateau, Kaduna, Kano, Enugu, Imo, Bayelsa and Oyo, among others. ASUU said branches in the Sokoto Zone had already separately issued their own two-week ultimatums.
If the Taraba State Government fails to meet ASUU-TSU’s demands by the August 26 deadline, the union has signalled it will proceed to industrial action, potentially disrupting academic activities at Taraba State University. Neither Governor Kefas’s office nor the university’s management has yet issued a public response to the latest ultimatum.
