“We Have No Hand In The Disruption Of Senate’s Committee Sitting” – ATBU

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

The authorities of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University ATBU Bauchi on Saturday, December, 13, 2025, distanced themselves from the unruly conduct of a group claiming to be linked to the Alumni Association during the Senate public hearing on  the bill seeking to convert the institution from a  technology-based institution to a conventional one.

The Source reports that the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFUND, had, on Thursday, December 11, adjourned proceedings indefinitely after the disruption of its activities by some aggrieved youths opposed to the conversion process.

Senator Shehu Buba Umar, representing Bauchi South, had sponsored the bill seeking to change the status of the ATBU to a conventional institution so as to accommodate the educational needs of more people.

However, during the formal presentation of the bill, the committee meeting became heated, following opposition from some quarters including the Nigeria Universities Commission, NUC, the University’s Pro-Chancellor , former Executive Secretary of TETFUND, Prof Suleiman Elias Bogoro,and others.

The tensed atmosphere inside the venue of the   Committee’s sitting  was exacerbated  by pockets of resistance and protests outside by sundry groups including those that claimed to be members of the institution’s alumni association.

Others present during the  hearing were former Governor of Bauchi State, Malam Isah Yuguda, former chairman of Senate Committee on Police, Senator Haliru Dauda Jika, Senate Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi and others.

The  sitting became further charged with  the presentation of a memorandum by the institution’s alumni association’s National President,  Mohammed Sani Wada, a development which forced the Committee to abruptly adjourn proceedings indefinitely.

The ATBU Management, in a statement issued by its spokesperson Zallani Bappa on Saturday, regretted what it described as the “unconventional behaviour” displayed by some individuals during the botched public hearing.

Recounting the unfortunate incident, the University authorities expressed, confidence that its graduates will not exhibit the kind of unruly conduct by some impostors disguising as members of the alumni association.

“The Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund began a public hearing on the bill sponsored by the Senator representing Bauchi South Senatorial District, Alhaji Shehu Buba, on the process of amending the law establishing the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University from a Science and Technology-based University.to a conventional one .

“This hearing began on Thursday,11th December,2025, at about 2 pm. However, the process was adjourned due to a disruption of the procedure by a group of youths who claimed to be members of the alumni association of the University. Some of the media outlets across the country have reported it as such.

“In view of this disturbing information, the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi wishes to distance itself from the action those impostors who are not graduates of the University.

“The ATBU prides itself on graduating disciplined students who have continuously been good ambassadors of the University across the globe for more than four decades.

“Hence, the University is ever confident that its graduates will never engage in any action that will disrespect the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”, the University’s reads in part.

The Source further reports that the bill has, in the last few months, sharply divided the people of Bauchi State and the University’s catchment States major stakeholders, as well as graduates of the institution.

While the present university management and the majority of the elite are  not known to be averse to the proposed change, not so for many of the University’s graduates who believe that a change in status will not augur well for the hard earned reputation of the institution.