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Many varsities will soon shut down over electricity tariff hike, ASUU warns

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2 years ago

October 4, 2024

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President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke has said most Nigerian universities are on the verge of shutting down over the unbearable cost of electricity.

Prof. Osodeke said this during the opening of a two-day national conference convened by ASUU in Abuja with the theme: “Nigeria in a State of General Crisis: The Search for a New Path to Development,” on Thursday.

The ASUU president said while public universities receive N15m monthly from the federal government as running costs, the electricity bills of some universities run between N200m to N300m monthly.

Osodeke said the classification of electricity consumers into bands has increased the cost of most universities, adding that the rise in electricity cost was hampering the administration of most public universities in the country.

The university lecturer said this has forced some universities to channel their internally generated revenue to the running of their operation.

He said: “We are so challenged. But let me give you a quick example, the University of Lagos; University of Ibadan; Ahmadu Bello University, and the University of Nigeria, Nsuka. What they get from the government account for the overhead running of the university in a month is N15million. Meanwhile, the University of Lagos needs about N200 million naira to pay the electricity bill. It is this IGR that you talk about that is used to pay for the electricity.

“One of the universities today is closing down because they have been given an electricity bill of N300 million. What the government gives you to run the system is N15 million, and you get a bill for electricity alone of N300 million. Where is that money coming from? You have to run the laboratories. You have to run the diesel. You have to run the fuel for vehicles.

“That is where the IGR is going today. Not being able to run the system, to buy books in the library, to run your library, to earn those things. They are all part of their so-called IGR, and that is what they talk about. But you know what? A government that will give just N15 million for UNILAG to run, will in turn, give one Senator N21 million a month. The government gives a system N15million, but an individual gets N21million. That’s where our priority is.

“For whatever reason, they have refused to fund the university systems as it was in the earlier part of our history.

“From the way we are going, if nothing is done, many universities will close up because they can not afford the so-called Band A and Band B.”

Lamenting the dire situation of some academics in the country, the ASUU President said farming has become even more lucrative for lecturers, especially when a professor is left at the mercy of earning less than N300,000 per month and still has to cater for his family and publish journals.

Osodeke also criticised the proliferation of universities in the country, warning that they were merely running on skeletal manpower as most of the lecturing staff were out of the country searching for greener pastures.

He described the situation within the university system as very disturbing, stressing that most of their members are dropping dead.

ASUU also revealed how rigging is perpetrated by the political class, which warranted their members to stay away from electoral processes after the 2015 general elections.

According to Osodeke, academicians still presiding over elections are doing so in individual capacities, not as ASUU members.

He revealed that what the politicians do is bring figures from the polling units and give them to the presiding officers to announce.

He said rigging will be eliminated if members of ASUU are involved in the entire electoral process starting from the ward levels to local governments and the national collation of results.

Osodeke said: “ASUU was asked to help conduct the (2015) election. That first election went well, though there were still issues. When the elections were over, we called for a meeting and put up a committee together to study what happened.

“By the time they finished, they came with a report that even though our colleagues are involved in the election, rigging is done at the polling booths and local government collation centres.

“What our colleagues do is just collate what they have been given. They give you a report, and you just write it down. So we found out that rigging is done there, and given to our members to collate.

“We went to INEC and asked that we participate from the polling unit up to the final stage and they refused. We wrote to them that ASUU, as a body, will not participate in any election.

“If you recall, before any election in this country, we will come out with a statement that we are not part of the election, but our members are Nigerians. They have their freedom, and they can go and do anything.”

Acting Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Chris Maiyaki charged the university lecturers to come up with solutions to the challenges facing the country.

Maiyaki said the present challenges facing the country required a multi-stakeholder approach which members of the academia are capable of championing.

He said academics lead not only in ideas and academic theories but also in critical matters like crafts, politics and socio-cultural matters, religion, and morality.

Maiyaki said: “Therefore is no class of persons more qualified than members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities in the urgent task of searching for solutions to the current predicament of Nigeria and Nigerians. The challenges we face as a nation require rigorous analysis and the development of actionable solutions.

“I am absolutely confident that you have the intellectual resources, that your members are uniquely positioned to execute this charge in facilitating conversations about taking our nation to a more sustainable and more progressive future.”

President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero said leaders in the country go abroad to receive medical treatment.

“When they (leaders) are coming back they come up with neoliberal policies and impose it on us. Today, Nigeria is running cap in hand to collect money from the International Monetary Fund. When you talk they place charges on my head – terrorism financing, cybercrime, and others,” he said.

He accused the federal government of failing to fulfill all the agreements it entered with organized labour.

The NLC leader said the government has stopped the payment of the N35,000 wage award since February and has also failed to fulfill its promise to make the refineries work.

Ajaero urged all the university-based unions to come together and declare a day of national action to force the government to reposition the education sector.

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UNIABUJA law student emerges champion at West Africa 9th Inter-Universities Speech Contest, in Freetown

Published

19 minutes ago

July 23, 2026

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

University of Abuja law student, Amra Onize Salihu, has emerged champion at the 9th Inter-Universities Speech Contest organised by the Intergovernmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), held on Wednesday, 22 July 2026 in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Amra, a 500-level student in the Faculty of Law, represented Nigeria after winning the national selection conducted by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

She defeated contestants from The Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Ghana to claim the regional title, receiving the Winner’s Plaque, a Certificate of Honour, and a cash prize of US$1,000.

Fellow 500-level law student Abah Goodness Ojonoma attended as an observer.

The Director of the Law Clinic, Dr Nasiru Mukhtar coached the team, along with Mr J R Gogol of the NFIU, who provided
technical coaching.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Hakeem Babatunde Fawehinmi, said he was proud of the students performance.

“Our students from the Faculty of Law have once again made the University proud. I congratulate them on this great achievement. I also commend the Faculty of Law and the Law Clinic for their efforts in the training and mentorship of the students. We will continue to work even harder to enhance the University’s global visibility through academic excellence and outstanding achievements such as this.”

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BREAKING: Fear as Enugu Air flight crash lands at Benin Airport

Published

50 minutes ago

July 23, 2026

EMMANUEL AGAJI

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Fear as an aircraft belonging to Enugu Air has crashed at Benin City airport in Edo State.

The incident reportedly occurred on Thursday afternoon.

A video of the incident was shared on social media by an X user identified as @Oyindamola

“Enugu Air aircraft crash lands in Benin Airport this afternoon,” the X user wrote.

Recall that the Enugu Air is owned and operated by the Enugu State government.

There’s was no official statement on the matter by the aviation authorities at the time of filing in this report.

Details shortly…..

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Reps Minority Caucus stage Walk Out as House Passes Tinubu’s State Police Bill

Published

1 hour ago

July 23, 2026

Gloria Ikibah

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…allege constitutional breaches in voting process as 311 lawmakers back landmark amendment

…reaffirm their support for state policing in principle

By Gloria Ikibah

The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives on Thursday staged a dramatic walkout during plenary in protest against the passage of President Bola Tinubu’s Executive Bill on the establishment of State Police, accusing the House leadership of violating constitutional provisions and the chamber’s Standing Orders.

Despite the protest, the House approved the Constitution Alteration Bill after 311 lawmakers voted in its favour, marking a major milestone in the ongoing effort to decentralise policing and strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.

The Executive Bill, transmitted to the National Assembly by President Tinubu last week, seeks to amend the 1999 Constitution to create a constitutional framework for the establishment of State Police Services. The proposal followed months of debate over the need for a multi-layered policing system to tackle rising insecurity across the country. It also replaced an earlier version of the bill previously passed by the House after lawmakers rescinded their earlier resolution to accommodate the President’s proposal.

Speaking to journalists shortly after leading members of the caucus out of the chamber, Minority Leader, Rep. Fredrick Agbedi, said their action was not a rejection of state police but a protest against what they described as the disregard for due legislative process.

He argued that the Speaker, while presiding as Chairman of the Committee of the Whole, ignored the constitutional requirements governing amendments to the Constitution.

He said: “The Constitution is the grand norm. It is the rule book from which even our Standing Orders derive their powers. For the Speaker, acting as Chairman of the Committee of the Whole, to disregard the clear provisions of Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, is a great affront to the workings of the House of Representatives.”

Agbedi maintained that attendance in the House is determined through members’ registers signed on each legislative day and not by names read during proceedings.

The Minority Caucus also insisted that every clause of a constitutional amendment bill must be considered individually and supported by a two-thirds majority, as required by both the Constitution and the House Standing Orders.

Quoting Order 13 Rule 15(a) of the House Rules, the lawmakers stated:
“In the clause-by-clause consideration in the Committee of the Whole, a clause shall be deemed passed only if supported by a positive vote of two-thirds majority of members of the House.”

The caucus faulted the decision to pass the bill through a voice vote after only the long title was read, without detailed consideration of each clause.

Reaffirming their support for state policing in principle, the lawmakers stressed that procedure should never be sacrificed.

“We are not against the creation of state police. Whatever will help address insecurity in Nigeria, we are prepared to support. But every action taken by Parliament must follow due process”, he added.

According to the minority leader, they had earlier held discussions with Speaker Abbas Tajudeen on aspects of the bill that required amendments, and believed there was an understanding that those concerns would be addressed.

The lawmaker warned that failure to comply with constitutional procedures could undermine the credibility of the National Assembly and Nigeria’s democratic institutions.

“Mr. Speaker even identified areas where we could intervene, but when he sat as Chairman of the Committee of the Whole, he simply read the long title and put the question through a voice vote. That is absurd.

“When the rules and regulations are not complied with, it affects the credibility of the institution as well as the credibility of Nigeria and our democracy”, Agbedi stated.

The caucus further alleged that the Speaker denied them the opportunity to raise constitutional points of order before the vote was taken.

“As Minority Leader, I raised a point of order, but before hearing me, the Chairman ruled me out of order. Which order was he ruling me out of? He ought to have heard my point of order first before deciding whether it complied with our rules or the Constitution”, he said.

The caucus also questioned how the constitutional requirement of a two-thirds majority could have been met after opposition lawmakers had left the chamber.

“If we walked out of the House, where are our votes? Can you count our votes? Can anybody decide a constitutional amendment with a voice vote? It is not possible”, he asked.

Describing the development as a dangerous precedent, the Minority Caucus accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of weakening democratic institutions.

“We stand on the side of Nigerians. We stand on the side of the rule of law. We stand on the side of what will make Nigeria a great nation and not what will diminish the integrity, progress and development of this country”, the minority leader noted.

The lawmakers urged Nigerians to remain vigilant, insisting that while they support the establishment of state police, any constitutional amendment must strictly comply with the provisions of the Constitution and the House Standing Orders.

Meanwhile, the House proceeded with the consideration and adoption of the report of its Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, chaired by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu.

At the conclusion of the exercise, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen announced that 311 members voted in support of the bill, comprising 276 lawmakers physically present in the chamber and 35 who participated virtually.

The bill, titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for the Establishment of State Police Services and for Related Matters (HB. 2797),” now moves to the next stage of the constitutional amendment process.

In forwarding the legislation to the House, President Tinubu said the proposal builds on previous work by lawmakers while introducing additional safeguards to ensure the effective implementation of a dual policing system.

“This bill builds on the significant work already done in this regard by the House of Representatives and incorporates additional safeguards to ensure that the creation of a dual policing structure to address our nation’s evolving national security challenges can be achieved quickly and effectively to the benefit of all Nigerians.

“The proposed legislation is a critical component of our administration’s strategy to reorganize Nigeria’s security architecture to better protect our citizens, and I am confident that the House of Representatives will act quickly to consider and pass this Bill.

“While I look forward to expeditious consideration of this submission by the House of Representatives, please accept, Rt. Honourable Speaker, the assurances of my consideration and best regards”, he said.

Following receipt of the Executive Bill, the House rescinded its earlier resolution of 11 June 2026 on the establishment of State Police Services and dissolved the 12-member Conference Committee constituted on 9 July 2026, paving the way for consideration of the President’s revised proposal.