By Terna Chikpa
Taraba State Governor, Dr Agbu Kefas, has reportedly remained silent since the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Taraba State University (TSU) branch, issued a 14-day ultimatum over the non-implementation of the applicable provisions of the ASUU/FGN 2025 Agreement.
The PERISCOPE NIGERIA reports that Kefas is now the only governor in Northern Nigeria yet to approve payments relating to the union’s demands, after the Gombe State Government approved the payments last week.
Our correspondent also reports that the 14-day ultimatum issued by the ASUU-TSU branch to the state government will elapse in two days, on August 26, 2026.
Dr Joshua-Garba Mbave, the ASUU-TSU branch chairman, told our correspondent that neither verbal nor written communication had been received from the governor regarding the union’s demands since the ultimatum was issued.
Mbave urged parents, stakeholders and members of the university community to blame the governor if the 14-day ultimatum expires on Wednesday without the expected action from the state government.
“We have not received any message from Governor Kefas,” the ASUU chairman said.
“Neither verbal nor written communication has been sent to us by the governor. After the ultimatum, we had a meeting with the ministry, but nothing reasonable was said to communicate to our members.
“Our desire is to ensure excellent academic performance in the university. It is unfortunate that issues of an unstable academic calendar seem not to bother the state government.
“ASUU-TSU is not just making demands; this is about the implementation of the applicable provisions of the ASUU/FGN 2025 Agreement. It is a directive and resolution of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the union concerning the continued non-implementation of the applicable provisions of the ASUU/FGN 2025 Agreement.
“On behalf of ASUU-TSU, I wish to call on stakeholders to communicate with the governor to act fast. We still have more than 48 hours, but should action fail to be taken in that regard, I urge parents, students and the university community to blame the governor,” Dr Mbave added.
PERISCOPE NIGERIA also reports that ASUU-TSU had warned that the ultimatum was not an invitation to commence another round of open-ended consultations, but a formal demand for compliance and implementation.
Meanwhile, Dr Mike-Dio Jen, the Taraba State Commissioner for Tertiary Education, did not respond to calls and text messages sent to his mobile phone by our correspondent over the matter.