The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has declared that there is no free and fair election in Nigeria, hence the need for Nigerians to resist all attempts to rig the upcoming 2027 elections.

According to the union, elections across all political positions are rigged to favour certain candidates to the detriment of others, describing the situation as dangerous.

ASUU described the political class as the biggest threat to Nigeria”s security, warning that rising political killings, thuggery and pre-election violence could plunge the country into a major crisis ahead of the general elections.

ASUU President, Christopher G. Piwuna, made the declaration during a press conference titled “Nigeria Universities and Nigeria today: Our worries, our propositions”, held at the University of Jos, on Friday.

“There is no election in Nigeria. How Nigerians would resist this obnoxious policies? The most democratic way to resist obnoxious policy is through election to get the right people. You and I know that we don’t have election in Nigeria. We all know. In Nigeria, if you want to win election, you must have the court. That is what we are seeing and it so flagrant.

“We will continue to have conferences and when there is need to street, elections will not change in this country at the rate we are going. It is resistance that will change it. We must continue to call them out. We must say what they are doing is not right. Nigerians must continue to speak about bad governance. We must not be afraid. We are already dying,” he said.

Speaking on the challenges facing academic staff, the ASUU President lamented government’s refusal to settle their three and a half salaries and continued delay in the payment of 25/35% wage award and promotion arrears of its members despite, according to him, the sacrifices they had made to the country.

The President further recalled that signing of the December 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement was seen by many as a significant move to arrest restiveness among academic staff of Federal and State universities and chart a new path of growth and stability for the Nigerian University System, describing the implication as haphazard.

ASUU also rejected what it described as “uncomfortable” with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund”s (TETFund) policy of tenable and non-tenable universities in selecting beneficiaries for local postgraduate studies under its Academic Staff Training and Development (ASTD). (Weekend Trust)

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