Education Minister Retracts Claim, Confirms 2009 ASUU Agreement Remains Binding

Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has withdrawn his earlier assertion that no binding agreement existed between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). He has now admitted that a formal pact was in fact signed in 2009.

In a statement issued on Friday, Alausa clarified that the 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement remains the only valid and binding document to date. His retraction comes less than 24 hours after he dismissed ASUU’s position as resting on a mere draft, a claim the union immediately rejected.

The ministry acknowledged that the 2009 agreement stands as the last officially signed document. It explained that efforts to review it began in 2017, when then Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, inaugurated a renegotiation committee. That process eventually produced the Nimi Briggs draft agreement in May 2021, but the document, the ministry stressed, was never formally executed.

“When the Honourable Minister stated that there had been ‘no new signed agreement’ with ASUU, he was referring specifically to the 2021 draft Nimi Briggs document, which has not been formally executed. The Ministry therefore reaffirms that the 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement remains the last formally signed agreement. The 2021 draft serves only as the latest framework for discussions,” the statement explained.

The ministry further assured the public that government remains committed to resolving the long-standing dispute with ASUU through sustainable, constitutionally backed measures, consistent with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. It urged Nigerians to disregard misinterpretations of the minister’s earlier remarks, reiterating that keeping universities open for teaching and research remains a top priority of the administration.