BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – Contrary to widespread news that some 43 professors of the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA), rejected the newly appointed Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Aisha Maikudi, and walked out of the Senate meeting on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, it has been confirmed that no such incident ever took place.
Speaking to Forefront News on the story, Professor Kari Abubakar Umar, Dean, Students’ Affairs of the University, said the Senate meeting held very successfully with an overwhelming attendance of 192 members.
Professor Umar said it was unbelievable to read of the story of how a very peaceful and successful meeting could be skewed by those who orchestrated and sold a fake story to the media.
This was as it was gathered that an aspirant to the office of the Vice Chancellor who did not make it at the selection process has been fanning the ember of hatred against the newly appointed Vice Chancellor simply because he was unable to be successful in his pursuit as majority of the academic community know him as a politically exposed person who believes in the axiom that “whatever, he cannot get, must be destroyed”.
Further checks indicated that a particular candidate that indicated interest in vying for the office of the Vice Chancellor is a known academic politician who was sacked as Director General of NiMET, and is using his deep financial pockets to fund all sorts of campaign of calumny against the newly appointed Vice Chancellor, Professor Maikudi, who was acting Vice Chancellor and very popular amongst the University community.
A non-academic staff who does not want his name in print for what he considered obvious reasons, confided in Forefront News that the former DG of NiMET has refused to lie low since he lost out of the race which he ought to have known right from the onset that it would be a herculean task for him.
According to the source; “Since the former DG lost out, he has refused to allow peace to reign in the University as he has formed a small clique of all manner of individuals who are now up in arms against the VC”.
While speaking on the development, Professor Kari Umar said he is not interested in discussing people’s personal ways of life, but more concerned in addressing and setting the records straight.
Prof Umar said; “That version of the story of what happened, stating that some professors walked out of the Senate meeting, was totally false, and completely inaccurate.
“The Senate meeting of Wednesday, January 29, which I attended as a bona fide member, held very successfully and the attendance was overwhelming (192).
“It was very peaceful and far-reaching decisions were taken and many publications carried the stories on Thursday. I suggest that the media should always contact different sources before publishing anything dished out by those desirous of churning out different narratives, otherwise you will be disseminating fake news and disinformation”.
Umar however, concurred that there are some desperate people who lost out of the race for the office of the Vice Chancellor and are now bent on creating a false impression that there is a crisis in UniAbuja which is far from the reality on ground.
The Dean, Students’ Affairs of UniABUJA noted that the likely objective of the group is to rubbish the system, confuse the public and get the already concluded Vice Chancellor race canceled, stressing that such a move is “a mission impossible”.
