The governing council of the University of Abuja (UniAbuja) has approved the appointment of Aisha Maikudi as the seventh substantive vice-chancellor (VC) of the institution.
The council, headed by the retired air vice-marshal Saddiq Ismaila Kaita, spoke at its 77th “extraordinary meeting” on December 31.
Maikudi’s appointment, the council said, takes effect from January 1, 2025, and it is for a nonrenewable tenure of five years.
It said Maikudi emerged as the best among the 10 shortlisted candidates and was interviewed by the joint council and senate selection board (JCSSB) of the university.
Before she was appointed the substantive vice-chancellor, Aisha Sani Maikudi served as UniAbuja’s acting VC from July 5, 2024.
Born on 31st January 1983 in Katsina, Maikudi is a professor of International Law at the institution.
Her education began at Sacred Heart School in Kaduna, where she obtained her first school leaving certificate (FSLC) in 1993.
She proceeded to Queens College in Yaba Lagos, earning her West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 1999.
Maikudi was at the University of Reading in the UK where she earned an LLB in 2004.
She specialised in Public International Law, obtaining an LLM from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2005.
After completing her legal education at the Nigerian Law School (2006–2007), she pursued and had a PhD in International Law from the University of Abuja in 2015.
She joined the University of Abuja as a Lecturer II on 4th September 2008 and rose through the ranks to become a professor in 2021.
Maikudi was the first female head of the department in 2013, the first female deputy dean of UniAbuja’s law faculty in 2018, and the pioneer director of the University of Abuja International Centre in 2019.
She served as the deputy vice-chancellor (academic) and introduced “United Nations Law” as a course at the University of Abuja in 2019.
Maikudi is acclaimed to have represented her university and Nigeria at numerous national and international conferences, workshops, and training sessions across the UK, US, South Africa, Germany, Italy, China, Ghana, and Egypt.
THE CONTROVERSY PRECEDING THE APPOINTMENT
Maikudi’s appointment comes after the VC selection process had suffered months of controversy and an impasse.
A source at UniAbuja, who sought anonymity, told TheCable that the controversy had taken a new twist on Tuesday.
The source said external members boycotted a meeting with the chairman of the university governing council Saddiq Ismaila Kaita.
Katia had called for a council meeting to appoint a substantive vice-chancellor by 3:00 pm on December 31.
The external council members who boycotted the meeting include Raphael Akinfeleye, representing the south-west; Chisom Dorcas Obih, representing the south-east, and Sabo Bappayo Ahmed, representing the north-east.
The source said the law states that unless the chairman, two council members who are not members of the university senate, and two representatives of the senate who are not council members are present, any interview conducted for VC selection is null and void.
“There is no provision for just one senate representative or four members. All the members must be present,” the source added.
Earlier, a group of 67 professors were reported to have submitted a protest letter to the minister of education Tunji Alausa to dissolve UniAbuja’s governing council.
The professors claimed that the chairman rejected over 27 internal applications and 60 external applications (87 in total) and invited only three persons to favour a preferred candidate who they alleged lacked the qualifications.
The protesters claim the council was improperly constituted, with internal members handpicked by the immediate past VC Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah during a strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in the institution.
The professors also criticised the inclusion of a representative from the education ministry and a businesswoman on the council, adding that these individuals lacked the expertise required to uphold quality assurance in higher education governance.
According to the petition, key criteria for the VC position, such as a minimum of ten years of professorial experience, were disregarded in the advertisement for the post the VC published in newspapers in August 2024.
This, they alleged, propped up the acting VC who is said to have had just over two years of experience as a professor.
