The Governing Council of the University of Abuja, now officially renamed Yakubu Gowon University, has approved the appointment of Professor Hakeem Fawehinmi as the substantive Vice Chancellor of the institution.
The announcement was made during the 80th Extraordinary Meeting of the Council held on Friday, according to a statement by the university’s Acting Head of Information, Dr. Habib Yakoob.
“The appointment takes effect from Tuesday, 10 February 2026, and is for a non-renewable tenure of five years,” the statement read.
Professor Fawehinmi currently serves as the Vice Chancellor of the Nigerian British University. His appointment comes after months of leadership by acting Vice Chancellors, following controversies surrounding the tenure of the former VC, Professor Aisha Maikudi.
Meanwhile, the Council also approved the extension of the tenure of the Acting Vice Chancellor, Professor Mathew Adamu, until February 10, 2026. Adamu was first appointed on August 11, 2025, by the Federal Government.
A Professor of Clinical Anatomy and Biomedical Anthropology, Fawehinmi is celebrated for his extensive experience in academia and institutional leadership.
He has held several key administrative positions, including:
- Head of Department of Anatomy (2005–2007; 2007–2009)
- Associate Dean (2010–2012)
- Dean, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences (2012–2014)
- Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) at the University of Port Harcourt (2016–2020)
Beyond administration, Fawehinmi has served on numerous statutory and ad hoc committees and contributed actively to professional associations. He was Secretary-General and NEC Member of the Nigerian Medical Association (Rivers State), Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Anatomical Sciences, and President of the Society of Experimental and Clinical Anatomists of Nigeria (2014–2016).
He is a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland and a Fellow of the Academy of Medicine Specialties of Nigeria.
Fawehinmi has also attracted national and international research grants as a principal investigator and holds a Federal Government patent for his invention, the AMRG Anthropometry Chair for Dimensional Body Measurements.
The university community has welcomed the appointment as a fresh chapter in the institution’s history, marking a new phase of academic and administrative stability.
