The struggle for the headship of Nnamdi Azikiwe University has taken a turn for the worse for some officials with the sacking of the school’s governing council, the vice chancellor, and the school’s registrar by its Visitor, President Bola Tinubu.
A statement by Presidential spokesman, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, announced that the President approved the dissolution of the Governing Council, and the removal of Prof. Bernard Ifeanyi Odoh, the new Vice Chancellor, and Mrs. Rosemary Ifoema Nwokike, the registrar.
The statement reads further: “The council, led by Ambassador Greg Ozumba Mbadiwe, included five other members: Hafiz Oladejo, Augustine Onyedebelu, and Engr. Amioleran Osahon, and Rtd. Gen. Funsho Oyeneyin.
“The sacking of the governing council and officials followed reports that the council illegally appointed an unqualified vice-chancellor without following due process.
“After the controversial appointment, the Federal Government stepped in to address tensions between the university’s Senate and the governing council of the 23-year-old institution.
“The government expressed concern over the council’s apparent disregard for the university’s governing laws in its selection process.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had in October accused the Pro-Chancellor, Ambassador Greg Mbadiwe, of allegedly manipulating the process of selecting a new Vice Chancellor.
The ASUU chapter in the school, in a press conference, earlier cried out to President Bola Tinubu, the Visitor to the university, to quickly intervene in the actions of the Pro-Chancellor, who is also Chairman of the Governing Council, Ambassador Greg Mbadiwe.
It said “the Pro-Chancellor is attempting to impose a pre-selected candidate for the Vice Chancellor position, raising fears of a potential crisis in the institution.
The ASUU Chairperson, Comrade Kingsley Ubaoji, urged the Chief of Staff to the President and the Minister of Education to rein in the Pro-Chancellor’s “alarming dictatorial tendencies” to preserve industrial peace on campus.
“We learnt from unconfirmed information that the Minister for State, following our letters, is inviting the Governing Council of our university to Abuja for a meeting….
“Unfortunately, we found out that it’s only the external members and the acting VC that were invited to the meeting without the internal component of the University.We feel it’s very wrong because without the internal component of the Council and ASUU members being part of that meeting, then the meeting is incomplete and will be unfruitful.
“It is also important to note that the Acting VC is under the directive of the Pro-Chancellor and may not speak up on welfare of our members. That’s why ASUU members who have always stood for their members welfare should be involved in such meetings,” he said.
He expressed concerns over perceived external political influences aimed at disrupting established processes regarding the appointment of university leadership.
One such issue, Ubaoji noted, was what he saw as the disregard for procedural governance and asserted that such actions undermine the integrity of the university’s academic community.
As the controversy raged, the school announced the appointment of Odoh and Nwokike as the school’s new vice chancellor and registrar respectively. The Federal Ministry of Education promptly cancelled the appointment.
However, Odoh defied the government cancellation and resumed duties two weeks ago.
The Vice Chancellor, in a statement by his Personal Assistant (Media and Publicity), Mr Charles Otu, contended that the Federal Ministry of Education has no powers to interfere in the internal decisions of the University
Said the statement, “based on Nigeria’s extant laws, the Federal Ministry of Education only oversees general educational standards across the nation, but does not have the legal power to direct or control the daily decisions of a university council, including who should be appointed as Vice-Chancellor.”
He explained that the management officially clarified its position to the Ministry of Education on its enquiries regarding the processes leading to the appointment of Odoh from among the 15 out of the 18 other candidates who applied for the same position.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu has also approved the removal of Engr. Ohieku Muhammed Salami as the Pro-chancellor and Chairman of the governing council of the Federal University of Health Sciences in Otukpo, Benue State.
Onanuga’s statement said the decision followed Salami’s illegal actions, including suspending the Vice-Chancellor without following the prescribed procedures.
Despite the Federal Ministry of Education’s call for the unlawful suspension to be revoked, Engr. Salami refused to comply. Instead, he resorted to abusive and threatening behaviour towards the Ministry’s Directors, including the Permanent Secretary.
The Federal Government reiterated that the primary responsibility of university councils is to ensure the smooth operation of university activities in accordance with the act establishing each university.
President Tinubu warned the councils not to create distractions in their universities as his government is focused on improving the country’s education standards.
