Maize (Zea mays L) originated from Mexico but have been introduced and domesticated in various part of the world.Maize is an important crop due to its subsistent,commercial and industrial uses.The aim of this study was to characterize genetic variability in diverse African maize landraces using bulk simple sequence repeat (SSR) technique.Maize landraces were collected from some part of Edo ()tate,Nigeria,while others were sourced from IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture),Ibadan,Nigeria and Premier seed ()ompany,Nigeria.14 populations of 15 plants each and two checks were characterized,the application of seven microsatellite markers ()ufficiently provided information on genetic diversity of all 14 populations investigated.The study revealed a total number of 21 alleles ()cross all loci,with a mean number of 3 alleles per locus.Polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.26 to 071,with a mean of ().52.The dendrogram displayed two main clusters;most populations from Nigeria were grouped in the same cluster while populations ()rom East Africa (Malawi and Somalia) were outliers.The result of this study can be used to establish a field trial,where germplasm will ()e scored based on adaptation,tolerance and resistance to biotic and abiotic factors,which will furthermore validate the genetic ()ivergence and similarity revealed by the microsatellite markers.