UniAbuja VC Appointment: How Application Of Professor Who Supervised Maikudi’s PhD Was Denied To Favour Acting VC –Sources

The University of Abuja is embroiled in a controversy surrounding the potential appointment of Prof. Aisha Sani Maikudi as the substantive vice-chancellor.

Pro-Chancellor Air Vice-Marshal Saddiq Ismaila Kaita (Retd.), who shares a hometown with Maikudi in Katsina, has allegedly disqualified the application of a professor who supervised Maikudi's PhD in the same faculty, for the VC position.

This move has raised concerns about favoritism and unfair practices in the selection process. Maikudi, who is currently the acting Vice-Chancellor, was appointed to the position in June 2024 after the tenure of the previous Vice-Chancellor, Prof AbdulRasheed Na'Allah, came to an end.

The situation has sparked a crisis at the university, with some questioning the integrity of the appointment process.

Insiders close to the University of Abuja's Governing Council have expressed outrage over the exclusion of the professor from the shortlist of applicants for the vice-chancellor position. This professor had supervised the PhD thesis of the current acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Maikudi.

The controversy surrounds the fact that Air Vice-Marshal Kaita approved 40 applicants for an interview, but this particular professor was not among them.

According to sources, the professor’s application was denied to pave the way for the imposition of Maikudi as the substantive VC.

Apparently, the initial advert for the vice-chancellor position, published on March 15, 2024, specified that applicants must have at least five years of experience as a professor.

However, in a move seen as an attempt to pave the way for the acting vice-chancellor to become the substantive VC, a second advert was published on August 26, 2024, which did not override the first but rather served as an addendum. Following this, many people in the university community have questioned the motivations behind the decision to publish a second advert.

One of the sources said, "The first advert specifically asked that applicants must have at least five years of professorial experience but because the acting VC, Maikudi, has only about three years of professorial experience, they published a second advert that did not indicate years of experience.

“They didn't put the year of professorial experience; it only stated ‘accomplished professor’. The second advert said ‘further to’, that means in addition to the first advertisement. It didn't say the second advert supersedes the earlier one.

"Yet they are using the second one that did not specify years of professorship as the basis. The irony is that the person who supervised her PhD at the University of Abuja and also her mentor, was not shortlisted and the mentee has been shortlisted for VC interview scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

"An applicant in the same faculty who supervised her thesis was not shortlisted because of the fraudulent agenda to impose her as the new VC. The pro-chancellor is working towards a predetermined outcome.”

"They didn't even follow the criteria. If they followed the criteria and followed the Rule of Law, there's no way in the world Prof. Maikudi’s mentor will not be shortlisted," another source said.

Sources further revealed that the names of the shortlisted applicants for VC interview have been sent to the Department of State Services (DSS) by the three Northerners in the Joint Selection Board without the involvement of the Senate of the University.

"Probably, if the acting VC failed to replace the two Senate members in the Joint Council before the scheduled interview on Saturday and Sunday, the pro-chancellor and his kinsmen in the selection board will announce the acting VC as the new substantive vice-chancellor on Monday," one of the sources said.

When SaharaReporters reached out to Pro-Chancellor AVM Kaita, he referred our reporter to the University’s Acting Director of Information and University Relations, Dr. Habib Yakoob.

"If you want any information, talk to Dr Habib Yakoob, Director of Media directly and he will tell you," Kaita said.

Despite being informed that he was personally mentioned by sources, he insisted, "I’m not going to say anything about the issue of shortlisting. Talk to the Director of Media, you will get all the information you need."

Meanwhile, efforts to speak with Yakoob were unsuccessful as he did not answer his calls.