The Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Abuja Chapter, has warned that industrial peace at the institution could be disrupted if the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, fails to reverse the allocation of university land to private companies and individuals.
The union accused the minister of disregarding a subsisting court order restraining him from encroaching on the university’s property, describing the alleged allocations as a violation of the rule of law and a threat to the institution’s future development.
The ASUU University of Abuja Chapter Chairman, Professor Sylvanus Ugoh, stated this during a media briefing in Abuja, where he demanded the immediate reversal of the allocations reportedly made on September 26, 2026.
Ugoh recalled that on August 18, 2026, Justice F.E. Messiri of the Maitama High Court issued an interlocutory injunction restraining the FCT minister from entering or encroaching on the university’s land.
However, he alleged that Wike proceeded to allocate portions of the property to private companies and individuals weeks after the court issued the order.
The union chairman described the alleged action as a disregard for the rule of law, maintaining that the university’s land was a Federal Government asset held in trust for Nigerians and not property belonging to the FCT administration.
He warned that ASUU would deploy all legitimate means to resist what it described as an unlawful attempt to take over the institution’s land.
According to Ugoh, the University of Abuja was established in 1988 with an initial land allocation of 11,834 hectares to provide for its long-term academic, infrastructural and research requirements.
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He explained that the extensive land area was necessary to accommodate future expansion, research centres, specialised institutes and other facilities required to support teaching, learning and community development.
The ASUU chairman also cited the University of Ilorin, Obafemi Awolowo University, Federal University of Technology, Minna, and Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, as examples of Nigerian institutions occupying large areas of land.
He argued that the claim that some portions of the University of Abuja’s land had remained undeveloped was not sufficient grounds for transferring them to private interests.
Ugoh further stressed the environmental significance of preserving the university’s green areas, noting that they contribute to ecological balance, climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation.
He described the University of Abuja as a strategic national institution and a symbol of national unity because it serves students from all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Asked about the union’s next move if the minister failed to reverse the allocations, Ugoh insisted that ASUU would not remain silent while the institution’s property was allegedly being transferred to private interests.
He maintained that although government could revoke privately owned land for public purposes, land belonging to a public institution should not be taken for the benefit of private individuals.
“You can revoke individual land for public interest, but you cannot revoke land of public interest for individual use,” he said.
Ugoh also appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene by calling the FCT minister to order to prevent a breakdown of industrial harmony at the university.
He urged Wike to reverse all allocations made on the institution’s land, warning that the union would explore every lawful avenue to safeguard the university’s property.
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