The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has appointed Very Rev. Fr. Prof. Luke Emefiele Ijezie as the new acting rector of the Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA), Port Harcourt. 

CIWA Registrar Rev. Fr. Wilson Akhigbe made the announcement in a memo to the CIWA community on Wednesday, 3 September 2025. 

VRF Prof. Ijezie is a professor of Old Testament and has served CIWA in various capacities as Head of Biblical Department (2021-2022) and Dean of Faculty of Theology (2022-2025). Before his recent appointment as the acting rector, he was also the Dean of CIWA’s College of Deans and CIWA’s liaison with the University of Calabar, Calabar. 

Prof. Ijezie succeeds the immediate past rector, VRF Prof. Jude Abidemi Asanbe, who was rector from 2019 to 2025.

While thanking the outgone rector and wishing him “success in his future endeavors,” the registrar also implored “all staff and students [of CIWA] to give the acting rector the necessary support and cooperation he deserves in order to succeed in his new assignment.”