Aisha Maikudi Appointed As UniAbuja’s 7th Substantive VC — Despite Controversy

By Tonia Okereke

The governing council of the University of Abuja (UniAbuja)  has approved the appointment of Prof. Aisha Maikudi as the new Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the institution.

The council, headed by Air Vice-Marshal Saddiq Ismaila Kaita (Retd, announced Maikudi’s appointment as the substantive VC at the council’s 77th “extraordinary meeting” held on December 31.

Maikudi’s appointment, the council said, takes effect from January 1, 2025, and it is for a non-renewable tenure of five years.

It said Maikudi who emerged as the best among the 10 shortlisted candidates was interviewed by the joint council and senate selection board (JCSSB) of the university.

Before Tuesday’s confirmation of Maikudi, the tussle for the office of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja was nearly marred by controversy, as some lecturers protested the rumored plan to appoint the then Acting Vice-Chancellor as the substantive Vice-Chancellor of the school.

The protest by the lecturers on Tuesday December 2024 took a violent turn when gun-wielding security men manhandled the crew of Channels TV covering the protest.

Before the protest, Maikudi’s appointment was commended in certain quarters as a paradigm shift because of her gender and age.

Aisha Maikudi joined the University of Abuja in September 2008 as a Lecturer II. In 2014, she was appointed as Head of the Department of Faculty of Law in 2014, in 2018, she became the Deputy Dean and also the pioneer Director University of Abuja. In 2024, she was appointed as the Acting Vice Chancellor.