Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS), has invited three professors from the University of Abuja for questioning regarding the crisis surrounding the selection of the institution’s substantive Vice-Chancellor.
The invited professors are M.A. Katcha, Abdul Buba from the Faculty of Science, Department of Physics, and Kasim Waziri from the Faculty of Law, Department of Law.
According to sources, the invitation is connected to the professors’ opposition to the alleged illegal process imposed by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council of the University, Air Vice-Marshal Saddiq Ismaila Kaita (rtd), to ensure the selection of acting Vice Chancellor Prof Aisha Maikudi.
Prof Waziri, a Senate member on the joint selection board, is being questioned for walking out of a meeting, while professors Katcha and Buba are being questioned over their role in an aborted extraordinary Senate Council meeting called by the acting vice-chancellor.
The university has been plagued by accusations of improper procedures and favoritism in the selection process, with sources alleging that the acting VC is being imposed on the institution despite not meeting the initial criteria for the position.
The DSS invitation letter, dated December 27, 2024, cited “security interest” as the reason for the invitation. The letter requested the authority of the University of Abuja to release the professors for an interview with the Director of the Department of State Services (SSS).
