Governor Alex Otti has apologised for the recent strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Abia State University chapter, describing the industrial action as avoidable.

Mr Otti said this on Thursday during a public lecture organised as part of the activities marking the 35th anniversary of the creation of the state, held at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia.

The governor said the strike occurred despite his earlier approval of the union’s demands, blaming bureaucratic delays for the failure to implement the decisions promptly.

He said that the requests presented by ASUU were legitimate and had been carefully considered before he approved them. According to him, the memo already captured the financial implications of the demands, making further delays in implementation unnecessary.

He said the development raised questions about why an implementation committee was required after the requests had already been assessed and approved.

Mr Otti said bureaucratic processes could frustrate government decisions even after the necessary approvals had been obtained. He said that such administrative bottlenecks were partly responsible for the delay that eventually contributed to the university’s industrial action.

“I want to, on this podium, apologise to Abia State University as well. That strike was avoidable. The reality is that the work stops here. So, we failed. I failed. I failed them,” he said.

The governor said that the incident had reinforced the need for greater efficiency and accountability among government officials responsible for implementing approved policies.

He said that it was unacceptable for workers’ welfare issues to remain unresolved after the government had approved the necessary measures.

Mr Otti also highlighted his administration’s investment in ABSU and the Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba, saying that significant resources had been committed to renovating existing facilities and constructing new ones.

He questioned why such infrastructure investments should not be matched by adequate attention to the welfare of university workers.

Mr Otti said that government must be willing to acknowledge its failures rather than shifting responsibility to workers whenever administrative lapses affected them. He warned that bureaucratic delays that frustrate approved government policies would no longer be tolerated.

The governor said officials responsible for such lapses would face consequences if similar incidents occurred in the future. He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to strengthening public institutions, improving infrastructure and prioritising human capital development and workers’ welfare.

The ABSU ASUU chapter commenced an indefinite strike on August 11, following the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum issued to the university’s governing council on July 22.

The union had cited outstanding welfare and institutional demands, including the non-implementation of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement, irregular promotions, non-remittance of cooperative deductions and outstanding Earned Academic Allowances dating back to 2009.

The industrial action ended after a committee led by the secretary to the state government intervened, and the state government announced on Monday that it had addressed the outstanding issues.

(NAN)