The House of Representatives Committee on University Education has called for a temporary halt to the ongoing process of appointing a new Vice-Chancellor for the University of Abuja, pending the outcome of an investigation into the ongoing leadership crisis at the institution.
Chairman of the committee, Hon. Abubakar Fulata (APC–Jigawa), made this known in a statement issued Friday following a meeting with the university’s acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Patricia Lar.
Fulata appealed for calm among stakeholders and emphasized the need for dialogue to restore stability to the university’s academic environment.
“We urge relevant stakeholders to put on hold all processes that will lead to the emergence of a new VC until controversies resulting in the leadership tussle are addressed,” he said.
“The committee, under my leadership, is completely against anything that will affect the calendar and smooth running of the university system.”
The lawmaker noted that the committee began investigations after receiving petitions over the dismissal of vice-chancellors and the dissolution of governing councils at some federal universities.
In a related matter, Fulata revealed that the House committee is actively working to recover 11,000 hectares of land originally allocated to the University of Abuja but recently revoked by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
He said the intervention was prompted by a petition from the University of Abuja Alumni Association, which accused the FCT administration of reducing the university’s landholding from 15,000 hectares to just 4,000 hectares.
“The House Committee on University Education has taken a step to intervene on the revocation of about 11,000 hectares of land belonging to the University of Abuja by the FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike,” Fulata stated.
“The decision to intervene followed a petition submitted by the university’s Alumni Association.”
Acting Vice-Chancellor Prof. Patricia Lar, who also spoke during the meeting, disclosed that her six-month tenure as acting VC is coming to an end within the next month.
She said her role had been to manage the institution during the transition period leading to the appointment of a substantive vice-chancellor.
