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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Imo State University (IMSU), Owerri branch, has rejected the university management’s decision to conduct examinations during its ongoing strike, insisting that the industrial action will continue until eight conditions, including implementation of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement and payment of outstanding salaries, are met.
The union accused the university authorities of attempting to undermine the strike through the scheduling of examinations, alleged intimidation of lecturers, and deployment of non-academic and casual workers to perform examination duties.
The eight conditions given by the ASSU-IMSU branch chairman for ending the industrial action include payment of new salary structures as outlined in the collective agreements; a time-bound Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for clearing all outstanding arrears; cancellation of examinations conducted unilaterally by the university administration during the strike period; non-victimisation agreements to protect union members and leaders from punitive measures; and payment of promotion arrears (dating back to 2016 for affected staff).
Other conditions are remittance of withheld check-off dues (reported as 21 months of union dues); payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) dating back to 2009; and restoration of university financial autonomy, including exiting the Treasury Single Account (TSA) system.
The union warned that it will not evaluate or grade any examination scripts written by students while the strike is active, stating that exams conducted without striking lecturers compromise academic integrity.
