By Mustapha Umar Nakowa
Professor Abdelghaffar Amoka,
A professor of Physics at Ahmadu Bello University, Prof. Abdelghaffar Amoka, has called on the organisers of a Kaduna meeting to release the names of academics who endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Prof. Amoka questioned the claim that “more than 600 Northern university senior academics” took part in the meeting.
“Where are the Northern university senior academics that endorsed Tinubu in Kaduna? Publish the names,” he wrote.
The meeting was held at the weekend at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Kaduna. It was convened by Ibrahim Masari, Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters.
Governors of Kaduna, Zamfara, Yobe, Borno and Gombe states attended. The Ministers of Defence and Housing, Bello Matawalle and Muttaqha Rabe Darma, were also present.
According to a communiqué read by Prof. Abdullahi Ibrahim Musa, Vice Chancellor of Kaduna State University, the academics said their support was “not a blank cheque.” They urged government to address food prices, transport costs, unemployment and insecurity.
The group stated that while reforms since May 2023 had caused hardship, they had also improved government revenue and led to progress in education financing, agriculture and infrastructure.
They concluded by resolving to support “the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, in the 2027 presidential election.”
No official attendance list has been released by the organisers.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has also distanced itself from the endorsement. ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, said the union is apolitical and “will never take such positions, going by our constitution.”
Campus reactions at ABU have been mixed, with some lecturers saying individual endorsements should not be presented as the position of Northern academics.
As of press time, the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters had not published the names of the 600 academics.