Alumni Urge Tinubu, NASS To Stop Niger Govt From Taking Over Campus

The Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna Alumni Association, has called on President Bola Tinubu, the minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa and the executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, to stop the Niger State government’s alleged attempt to take over the Bosso Campus of the school.

They also urged the National Assembly to summon the governor of Niger State, Mohammed Bago and the relevant state officials to appear before the appropriate  legislative committees to explain their “unilateral and reckless action.”

At a press conference in Abuja yesterday, the association passed a vote of confidence on the leadership of Prof. Faruk Kuta, the vice-chancellor of the university, and his management team.

The national president of FUT Minna Alumni Association, Prof. Shola Gabriel Solomon, who spoke on behalf of the members and officials expressed shock that the alumni received news of two letters — one dated October 3, 2025, personally signed by the governor.

He quoted the governor as saying in the letter that “the Niger State government is now desirous of taking back possession of its property at Bosso Campus for Strategic Use” insisting that adequate compensation was paid ab initio.

Shola said in another letter dated November 27, 2025 issued from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of Niger State directed the Vice Chancellor to vacate the Bosso Campus by December 1, 2025 in order to avert “unpleasant consequences, on the claimed basis of the expiration of a forty-year lease agreement, statement which the Alumni considers an existential threat to the University.

“The Niger State Government’s claim of a ‘forty-year lease’ is not only factually incorrect but represents a deliberate and mischievous mischaracterization of the legal and historical nature of the 1982 transaction.

“As clearly documented in the Pioneer Vice Chancellor’s own account, the Federal University of Technology, Minna, paid the full sum of ₦2,800,000.00 as compensation for the property. This payment conferred outright ownership, not a leasehold.

“No lease agreement was ever presented, registered, or legally consummated between the Federal Government and the Niger State Government in respect of the Bosso Campus,” the president said.

According to him, the FUT, Minna, is a federal government institution established, funded, and operated under federal authority and its assets, wherever located, are federal government assets protected by law and Niger State government has no constitutional, legal, or moral authority to seize or appropriate them.

Shola called on the Governing Council and Management of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, to take immediate and decisive legal steps to protect the Bosso Campus and all its assets from expropriation.

He vowed that the Alumni will commit its full moral, financial, and organisational support to the legal defence of the university’s property rights, saying “we are prepared to mobilise their members in Nigeria and in the diaspora, engage the finest legal minds available, and pursue this matter to its conclusion at every level of the judiciary, including the Supreme Court of Nigeria, if necessary.”

“Association will leave absolutely no stone unturned in the defence of the university’s assets at any location, at any time, and by every lawful means available. We are monitoring this situation closely, documenting every action taken by the state government, and are prepared to pursue civil, constitutional, and international remedies as the circumstances demand.

“We call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu (GCFR), the Honourable Minister of Education, and the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission to immediately call Governor Bago to order as we will not leave any stone unturned and will employ every possible avenues to fight this unlawful course of action by the Governor.

“We call on the National Assembly to summon the Governor of Niger State and relevant state officials to appear before appropriate legislative committees to explain this unilateral and reckless action. The integrity of Federal institutions must be defended at the highest levels of government.

“FUT Minna Alumni Association hereby pass a vote of confidence on the Leadership of Professor Faruk Adamu Kuta, the Vice Chancellor of the University, and his management team. On a final note, we want the Governor of Niger State to note that, in his efforts to take over our University unlawfully, he will have to contend with the Alumni Association and over 40,000 students of the university,” he added.