A human rights organisation, the Coalition of Civil Society Groups, has protested against the sack of 13 Vice Chancellors of Federal Government-owned universities, including the National Open University.
The CCSGs demanded the reversal of the sacks.
The affected universities, apart from NOUN, were founded by the immediate past administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
The sack of the Vice Chancellors was contained in a statement by the Minister for Education, Adamu Adamu.
Adamu said the sack was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
But the CCSGs in a protest letter to Buhari, signed by its President, Etuk Bassey Williams, and Secretary-General, Ibrahim Abubakar, said the action contravenes the provisions of the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act No.11 of 1993 (as amended) by decree No.25, 1996 and further amended in 2003 and 2012 respectively and other agreements as contained in the 2009 FGN staff union agreement.
The petitioners said four out of the 12 appointed VCs are from Kano State University, an action they said was a clear violation of the federal character principle, adding: “While this does not come as a surprise owing to the influence of one of the Special Advisers to the Minister of Education in orchestrating the appointments of his friends and cronies without following due process, we are however concerned about the constitutional breach and the resultant litigation battle this action may cause, which in turn may generate unnecessary distractions to your focused administration.”
The petition reads: “We are compelled to call your attention owing to the illegality in the removal of Vice Chancellors of 13 Federal Universities including the National Open University of Nigeria and the hasty appointment of friends and cronies in place of those illegally removed from office.
“While we are not unmindful of the fact that you would have acted on the recommendation of the Minister of Education in approving their removal, it is pertinent to know that in the pursuit of ambition driven by unguided passion and greed, impunity becomes inevitable as the end irrespective of the means is all that matters and in this case, the removal of these Vice Chancellors is the outcome of an unguided passion and greed by the Minister of Education and his Special Adviser.
“The constitution is quite clear on the procedures to be followed in the appointment and disengagement of Vice Chancellors and none of these procedures were followed in the above case.
“The appointment of Vice Chancellors is a tenured appointment, which presupposes that every appointee is expected to serve the prescribed number of years as stipulated by the Acts governing the institutions.”
The organisation regretted that none of the Vice Chancellors was allowed to complete his tenure and were all removed without following due process of the law.
The CSOs said in the event that a Vice Chancellor was to be removed from office before the expiration of his tenure, it is the Board of the Governing Council that is empowered to recommend or effect that removal of an erring Vice Chancellor before the completion of his term in office.
The group said: “In the above case, the Minister already dissolved the Board of the Governing Council with the statutory powers to recommend or effect the removal of a Vice Chancellor from office thereby making the removal of these Vice Chancellors illegal, null and void.
“In appointing new Vice Chancellors or any public officer for that matter, it is an offence and a breach of the Federal Character principle for one third of the total appointees to come from a particular State.
“The action of the Minister is greeted with sadness as it is considered a breach of the provisions of the University Amendment Act or legislation and to a large extent a gross violation of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which guarantees universities autonomy in Nigeria.”
A former Head of the Department of International Relations at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof. Kayode Soremekun, who was said to be on Sabbatical in NOUN, is the new Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
While the Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State has Prof. Auwal Yadudu of the Faculty of Law, Bayero University, Kano as its new VC, Prof. Fatima Batoul Muktar of the Department of Biology, North West University, Kano is the VC of Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa State.
A lecturer in the Department of Pharmacy, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Prof. Haruna Abdu Kaita, is the new VC of Federal University, Dutsin Ma, Katsina State, while Prof. Andrew Haruna of the Department of Linguistics, University of Jos will now function as the VC of the Federal University, Gashua, Yobe State.
While another lecturer in the Department of Pharmacy, ABU, Zaria, Prof. Magaji Garba, will now be VC in Federal University, Gusau, Zamfara State, Prof. Alhassan Mohammed Gani of the Institute of Maritime Studies, Federal University, Kashere in Gombe State has been elevated to the position of VC in the same University.
A lecturer in the Department of Physics, Federal University, Lafia, Prof. Muhammad Sanusi Liman, will henceforth be VC of the same institution.
For Prof. Angela Freeman Miri of the Linguistics Department, UNIJOS, her new portfolio is the Federal University, Lokoja, where she will now be VC.
The Federal University, Ndifu-Alike, Ebonyi State now has Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba of the Post-Graduate School, Imo State University, Owerri as its VC, while Prof. Seth Accra Jaja of the Department of Management, University of Port Harcourt is now the VC of Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State.
Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu of the Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University, Kano is to replace Tenebe at NOUN.
The Vice Chancellors who were affected by the sack apart from Tenebe are Prof. Mobolaji E. Aluko (Otuoke, Bayelsa), Prof. Jibril Amin (Dutse Jigawa), Prof. James Ayatse (Dutsin-Ma, Katisina), Prof. Mohammed Farouk (Kashere, Gombe) and Prof. Ekanem Braide (Lafia, Nasarawa).
Also affected were Prof. Abdulmumini Rafindadi (Lokoja, Kogi), Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe (Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi), Prof. Isaac Asuzu (Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti), Prof. Geoffrey Okogbaa (Wukari, Taraba), Prof. Lawal Suleiman Bilbis (Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi, Prof. Ben Chuks Okeke (Gusau, Zamfara) and Prof. Shehu Abdulrahman (Gasua, Zamfara).
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