The outgone Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, has formally handed over to the most senior officer in the commission, Chris Maiyaki, in Abuja on Friday.
He said President Bola Tinubu had accepted his decision to step down with effect from June 30, 2023.
Rasheed said that the new Executive Secretary would be steering the affairs of the commission in acting capacity until the appointment of a substantive Executive Secretary by the President.
He said: “Due to my desire to spend my active years in the classroom, I decided to write to the President through the Federal Ministry of Education three years before my tenure expired.
“Upon receiving the approval, I wrote to the Vice Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano to return to the classroom with effect from July 1, 2023.
“I want to thank everyone for your faith and confidence in NUC.
“I appreciate you for supporting the management of NUC because I am lucky to have worked with confident staff.”
Rasheed appreciated the counter-based unions, especially the Academic Staff Union of Universities, and the support received from sister agencies throughout his tenure.
When asked of any case of corruption after his resignation, he said he resigned voluntarily from office and not because of fear of alleged corruption.
He said: “As far as I know, I voluntarily resigned from office.
“I actually resigned two years ago after the expiration of my first tenure in office because I did not want to come back.
“I had already gone to the classroom before my reappointment.
“This is because I don’t want to retire anywhere outside the classroom and have run the organisation to the best of my abilities.”
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Responding, the Acting Executive Secretary commended his outgone boss, saying his achievements were unprecedented for all to see.
Maiyaki promised to do his best to consolidate the good work of Rasheed while counting on the support of staff and management of the commission and by extension, the academic community of the country.
He said: “We will sustain that momentum as we believe the future will throw up challenges in the digital atmosphere we are.
“We will continue the reinvention of pivoted role of university education.”
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Rasheed was first appointed on August 1, 2016 for an initial tenure of five years.
He was later reappointed on August 1, 2021 and was expected to be in this position till July 31, 2026 until his formal resignation.
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