ASUU threatens industrial action over Wike’s allocation of UniAbuja land

Speaking during a press conference at the university on Tuesday, ASUU-UniAbuja Chairperson, Sylvanus Ugoh, a professor, said the union can no longer guarantee industrial harmony on the campus unless the FCT Minister reverses the allocations.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Abuja Chapter, has accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, of unlawfully allocating university land to private companies and individuals.

“ASUU Uniabuja will no longer guarantee industrial harmony if the FCT Minister fails to reverse the unlawful taking away of University of Abuja land and allocating it to his friends and cronies,” the union said in the statement issued after the press conference.

ASUU also accused the minister of violating an FCT High Court judgment restraining the minister from entering or encroaching on the university land.

The union said Mr Wike’s 26 September allocation of land to certain companies and individuals was a violation of an order of the Maitama High Court, which ordered all parties to maintain status quo.

The union also called on President Bola Tinubu to call Mr Wike to order “to allow peace and harmony to prevail on our campus.”

The union said it will use all legal means to resist any attempt to take the land.

In June 2025, while commissioning an access road to the EFCC Institute in the Giri district of the FCT, Mr Wike announced that he was cutting the university’s land from 11,000 to 4,000 hectares and accused it of land grabbing.

He claimed the university had acquired 11,000 hectares with no documents, and directed the Director of Lands and other FCT Administration agencies to reallocate the rest of the land for planned development in the district.

But the university and its supporters pushed back. Its Pro-Chancellor, Olanrewaju Tejuoso, said the school holds valid documents showing the land was duly allocated. Mr Tejuoso said the 4,000 hectares left for the university are mostly rocky hills.

In defending his position, Mr Wike said he was only following a decision by a previous administration. He also questioned why a university would need 11,000 hectares while the FCT is under pressure to expand because of congestion.