UniAbuja lecturers petition FG over acting registrar appointed without council

A group of senior academics at the University of Abuja (UniAbuja) have petitioned Tunji Alausa, the minister of education, over what they described as the illegal appointment of Roseline Adakayi as acting registrar.

The petitioners are the professors Gambo Dan’Asabe and Murtadha Oluyemi Badmus.

Also included are the PhD holders Yunus Momoh, Mansur Kani, and Binta Dabai.

The academics are calling on the minister to reverse the appointment, citing multiple breaches of extant university laws and regulations.

On May 12, Patricia Lar, acting vice-chancellor of the university, announced Adakayi’s appointment for a six-month term following the expiration of Islamiya Abdulkareem’s tenure.

Abdulkareem had served in an acting capacity since November 2024.

The university said the appointment was approved by Lanre Tejuoso, pro-chancellor and chairman of the governing council.

But the petitioners argue that the appointment is unlawful, as the governing council was officially dissolved in February.

In the petition addressed to the minister, the academics argued that only a duly constituted governing council is empowered by the University of Abuja Act to appoint an acting registrar.

They said the dissolution of the council on February 6 renders any subsequent approvals or appointments “an unlawful usurpation of authority”.

“The council has not been reconstituted,” the petition reads in part.

“Dr. Tejuoso alone cannot assume the powers of a full council. This action must be invalidated.”

Beyond the legal argument, the petitioners also questioned the merit of Adakayi’s appointment, claiming she is not the most senior or most qualified among the university’s deputy registrars.

They accused the university leadership of disregarding merit and institutional norms in the selection process, and alleged that Adakayi does not hold superior academic or administrative qualifications to justify her elevation.

The petition also raised concerns over religious and regional representation in the university’s leadership.

The academics claimed that recent appointments reflect a “troubling religious homogeneity” and marginalisation of Muslim staff members.

They cited the appointments of Adakayi and the bursar Shiva M’ovul-Kondou (both from Benue state) as a breach of the federal character principle.

They also warned that it undermines the university’s national outlook.

“These actions threaten to reduce UNIABUJA to a sectional, mono-faith institution, contrary to its founding vision as a pan-Nigerian federal university,” they wrote.

The petitioners called on the minister to reverse the appointment of Adakayi, nullify all decisions taken in breach of due process, and issue a directive against further appointments without legal authority.

Copies of the petition were also forwarded to the national security adviser, the executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), chairpersons of the national assembly committees on tertiary education, and the Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar.