The Modibbo Adama University (MAU) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has rejected advertisements for candidates to fill the position of vice-chancellor of the university.
The position will soon be vacant as the current VC, Professor Abdullahi Tukur, is in the last few days of his five-year tenure, reports The Nation.
The MAU Yola chapter of ASUU, at a press conference, said it rejected the advertisement of the vacancy for the post of vice chancellor in MAU because the action is illegal.
The chairperson of the chapter, El-Maude Gambo, who read the text of the press conference to newsmen, said the advertisement of vacancies for the offices of vice chancellor and other principal officers in all federal universities has procedures.
He explained: “Under normal circumstances, the council does that, whereas under abnormal circumstances the vice-chancellor or Senate can appoint an acting vice chancellor for six months.”
El-Maude Gambo added that, unfortunately, the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, had earlier mandated some university management, including MAU Yola, to write an application seeking his approval to advertise for the position of vice-chancellor.
“This singular illegal act does not only violate the established norms and/or culture of electing vice-chancellors and other principal officers but also threatens the integrity, autonomy, and academic freedom of Nigeria’s public universities,” he asserted.
The MAU branch of ASUU also condemned the dissolution of governing councils of federal universities by the National Universities Commission (NUC) following a directive of President Bola Tinubu, an act which the union said violates Section 3 (1&2) of the Universities Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1993.
El-Maude urged President Tinubu and the Minister of Education to reconstitute the governing councils for universities to function maximally.
