Forty-three (43) Senate members of the University of Abuja have raised concerns over the controversial appointment of Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi as the University’s Vice Chancellor, citing manipulation of the selection process.
In an open letter addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu through the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Senate members called for the immediate dissolution of the University’s Governing Council.
They cited widespread irregularities, which undermined the appointment’s credibility and the institution’s integrity.
The letter outlines several key issues, including improper composition of the Governing Council, breaches in appointment guidelines, intimidation and harassment of Senate members, and a flawed, rushed selection process.
With accusations of favouritism and corruption, the Senate urged the President to intervene to preserve the university’s credibility and protect the principles of fairness and merit in academic leadership appointments.
The letter, signed by 43 professors, alleged that the selection process was marred by a series of procedural breaches, including an improperly composed Governing Council, manipulation of qualification criteria, undue interference by the Ministry of Education, and violations of the University’s regulations.
LEADERSHIP earlier reported that the University’s Governing Council, under the chairmanship of Air Vice-Marshal Saddiq Ismaila Kaita (Rtd), last week approved the appointment of Maikudi as the 7th substantive Vice-Chancellor despite a boycott by some members of the institution’s governing council.
Before her appointment, the institution faced significant backlash due to allegations surrounding the compromised appointment standards of its Vice-Chancellor.
Earlier last year, the university advertised the Vice Chancellor position, specifying the required standard qualifications. This indicated that unqualified candidates should not apply.
A copy of the advertisement, published in a national newspaper on March 15, outlined that under the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1993 (as amended), candidates must be professors with at least five years of experience in a recognised university.
Candidates were also required to demonstrate academic leadership, administrative capabilities, and a record of high-level academic productivity in reputable journals such as those defined by Thompson Reuters ISI, Web of Science, and other similar scholarly platforms.
However, after a new Governing Council was constituted, the university published another advertisement on August 26 with altered requirements.
The new advertisement emphasised that candidates must be accomplished professors with a doctorate in one of the disciplines offered by the university, have a minimum of 10 years of active teaching and research experience, and show evidence of postgraduate supervision for at least five years, among other criteria.
Some stakeholders lamented that the former VC, Prof. Abdulrasheed Na’Allah, was said to have facilitated the emergence of Prof. Aisha Maikudi, daughter of former council chairman Alhaji Sani Maikudi, as acting VC in the twilight of his tenure as a reward for the former council chairman who allegedly bent several rules to enable him to emerge five years ago.
Accusations also suggested that the selection process was marred by irregularities, raising concerns about transparency and integrity within the institution’s leadership framework.
Before the announcement, some sources at the institution also alleged that the Chairman of the Governing Council, Air Vice-Marshal Saddiq Ismail Kaita (retd), lowered the criteria for VC appointment in the recent vacancy advertisement for the post published in a national daily to favour the acting VC.
They said the criteria listed were contrary to the University establishment law and guidelines, as provided by the National Universities Commission (NUC) for the appointment of a VC.
But after her official announcement as vice-chancellor, the university’s Senate yesterday described the selection process for the vice-chancellorship of the University of Abuja as marred by a blatant disregard for due process, violations of relevant laws and regulations, favouritism, abuse of privileges, undue interference, and lack of fairness.
“These lapses culminated in the unfortunate declaration of Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi as the substantive Vice-Chancellor. Such events undermine the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President and risk setting a dangerous precedent for other Governing Councils in appointing Vice-Chancellors across Nigerian universities.
“The central issues, which undermine the integrity, transparency, and credibility of the process leading to the declaration of Professor Maikudi as a substantive Vice-Chancellor on Tuesday, 31st December 2024, are improper composition of the Governing Council: The University of Abuja has faced challenges due to a poorly composed Governing Council.
“The six internal members were handpicked by the outgone Vice Chancellor and imposed on the University through questionable “elections” conducted during a local ASUU strike triggered by the Vice Chancellor’s disregard for laws and due process. Efforts to persuade the Governing Council Chairman to ensure proper elections for these members were ignored. As a result, the internal members now prioritise the interests of the outgone Vice Chancellor over those of the University.”
They also said when constituting the Selection Team, the Council Chairman excluded the only academic among the external members, Professor Ralph Akinfeleye, a distinguished Mass Communication scholar, and instead appointed a Federal Ministry of Education representative with no educational background (an ICT officer from the federal pool) and a businesswoman unrelated to education.
They said this skewed composition compromised quality assurance in education, creating a pathway to appoint an unqualified Professor, Aisha Sani Maikudi, as the substantive one.
The Senate also lamented the incompetence of the Ministry of Education representative and violations of the ministry’s guidelines.
“In Chapter Five of the Reviewed Guidelines for the Ministry of Education Representatives on the Governing Councils of Federal Tertiary Institutions, Section 5.1 (p. 65), it clearly states that the Ministry’s representative is to help “align the institution’s decisions with broader goals and policies set by the government.” However, the representative of the Ministry of Education on the University of Abuja Governing Council has failed to uphold this principle.
“The Ministry’s representative, Mr Abubakar K. Isa, a Director of ICT in the Ministry and a non-educationist, violated guidelines by not ensuring adherence to the Ministry’s template for appointing Vice Chancellors, which mandates at least 10 years of professorial experience.
“Additionally, his appointment violated item (i) of the guidelines, which specifies that the Ministry’s representative must be a “special member and a professional/technocrat.” Under his watch, the Council made several decisions contradicting laws, regulations, and guidelines, further undermining institutional integrity and compliance.”
The Senate members pointed out that the established Federal Ministry of Education guidelines for appointing Vice Chancellors (especially regarding a minimum of 10 years of professorial experience) were flagrantly disregarded throughout the process.
The Senate said the advert for the post of Vice Chancellor published in August 2024 was deliberately watered down to remove vital issues like years of experience as a professor, scholarly standing on global ranking systems like Google Scholar and Scopus, and exceptional records of research and publications.
“These were all aimed at paving the way for Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi to become qualified, as she is just two years a professor, lacking any scholarly ranking, and has weak records of research, publications, and postgraduate supervision,” it added.
The Senate further lamented that Senate meetings were conducted undemocratic, characterised by suppression of members’ voices, denial of the right to speak, and failure to arrive at decisions through proper democratic processes. The conventional procedures for screening, interviewing, and examining candidates, which typically require several weeks, were rushed and compressed into a single week.
The Senate argued that Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi’s candidacy for the Vice-Chancellorship of the University of Abuja was undermined by her failure to meet the original eligibility criteria published in the advertorial for the position placed in March 2024, including the required five years of post-professorial experience and a Google Scholar h-index of at least 10.
“Her active involvement in revising the advertisement to remove these key criteria in the second advertorial placed in August 2024, refusal to recuse herself from discussions despite her vested interest, and her influence on altering the process to her advantage reflect an apparent conflict of interest and abuse of privilege.
“Further, her role in chairing Senate proceedings, replacing duly elected representatives in violation of rules, and overseeing a process marred by widespread irregularities have raised serious concerns about procedural fairness and impartiality.”
According to them, these issues indicate a brutal attack on and disregard for laws and procedures. This led to the Governing Council declaring that Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi should be moved from Acting Vice Chancellor to substantive Vice-Chancellor. This undermines the credibility of the appointment process and the principles of fairness, equity, and merit that should guide the selection of a Vice Chancellor, going against the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President.
“We have lost total faith and confidence in the Governing Council as they have exhibited a lack of integrity and competence and an inability to be fair and just in producing the best and most qualified Vice Chancellor for the University. We would like to ask you to take immediate corrective action to restore the integrity of the process by getting the Governing Council dissolved and re-constituted so that a fresh and free process for the Vice Chancellorship appointment can be conducted.
“This will go a long way in demonstrating to Nigerians the sincerity of Mr. President’s Renewed Hope Agenda. Failure to address these concerns could have far-reaching consequences for the University and the higher education system in Nigeria as other Governing Councils will gladly emulate the unfortunate path taken by the University of Abuja Governing Council,” the Senate added.
