The Unified Nigeria Youth Forum (UNYF) has strongly condemned a petition challenging the appointment of Professor Aisha Sani-Maikudi as the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja, calling it baseless and outdated.

The petition, submitted to the Minister of Education, Dr. Morufu Alausa, alleges that her appointment violated federal guidelines, specifically questioning her qualifications based on the number of years she has served as a professor.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Sunday at the Aavison Hotel, the National Deputy President, UNYF Comrade Oluwafemi Idowu Shoroye said that there is no legal requirement in Nigeria for a professor to have a specific number of years of experience before being considered for the Vice-Chancellor position.

The youth group emphasized that the focus should be on a candidate’s academic credentials and leadership capabilities, not arbitrary tenure requirements.

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To further refute the claims in the petition, UNYF pointed to numerous examples from across the country where universities have appointed Vice-Chancellors without imposing a minimum number of years as a professor and as a result call for the immediate Nomination and confirmation of Prof. Aisha without further delay.

Examples of universities that previously had professors with less than ten years experience includes the University of Abuja, which previously appointed Dr. Laraba Gambo Abdullahi, a PhD holder, as Vice-Chancellor; Bayero University Kano, where Attahiru Jega, a PhD holder, served as Vice-Chancellor without a lengthy tenure as a professor; and the University of Maiduguri, where the current Vice-Chancellor was appointed just two years after becoming a professor.

Additionally, institutions like the Federal University of Dutsin-Ma (FUDMA), Minna, and the Nigerian Army University Biu have all advertised Vice-Chancellor positions with the sole requirement of being a professor, irrespective of years of service.

UNYF concluded by reaffirming their full support for Professor Sani-Maikudi’s appointment, highlighting her qualifications and readiness to lead the University of Abuja into a new era of progress and academic excellence.

Shoroye said: “We, the Unified Nigeria Youth Forum (UNYF), are gathered here to address and firmly defend Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi’s appointment as the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja. We also insist that her aspiration to be the incoming substantive Vice-Chancellor of the University is legitimate and absolutely fits the bill.

“We have become aware of a petition that has been submitted to the Honorable Minister of Education, Dr. Morufu Alausa, challenging her legitimate desire and application for the substantive appointment, claiming that it will violate Federal Ministry of Education guidelines and questioning her qualifications based on the number of years she has served as a professor.

“The petition is one more attempt in a series of choreographed and orchestrated bids by her opponents in the race for the topmost position at the University of Abuja. One would have thought being an open contest, everybody involved would parade and allow their credentials to speak to their candidature.

“But alas, it seems that those who are sufficiently intimidated by the towering and unbeatable credentials and standing of Professor Aisha Maikudi who happens to be the youngest and brightest candidate at the University of Abuja have opted for means outside the rules of the game.

“We are shocked that the baseless and ill-informed petition was signed by Dr. Muize Banire, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on behalf of some faceless so-called “academic members” of the University of Abuja, whoever they are and what they stand for. As a leading legal luminary in Nigeria, a former National Legal Adviser of the ruling APC, and currently the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Transportation in Daura, Katsina state, he should know better.

“We are not in a position to accuse of him doing a hatchet job for some well-known ambitious professors in the University with unsaleable moral baggage, but it is important to put the records straight in the matter of appointment of Vice-Chancellors in Nigerian universities which the University of Abuja seems to be the most attractive on account of its strategic location, trajectory, and resources.

“That the faceless “academic members” who engaged the top-notch lawyer did not dare to pen their names and take responsibility for the petition should tell the world that it simply lacks merit.
All the same, let us be clear from the outset: we entirely reject the claims contained in the petition. They are baseless, outdated, and a deliberate attempt to undermine a well-deserving leader.

“The petition is both misguided and unfair, and we united in our support for Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi’s current appointment as acting Vice-Chancellor and her application before the University’s Governing Council to emerge as the next substantive Vice-Chancellor expectedly in a couple of weeks from now.

“Although her name was not directly mentioned in the petition, it is an open secret both within the confines of the University of Abuja community and the nation at large whom the target of the petition is. A central argument in this petition is that Professor Sani Maikudi’s appointment as substantive Vice-Chancellor will violate the Federal Ministry of Education guidelines, particularly because of an alleged failure to meet a minimum of years of experience as a professor.’