The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has decried the direct involvement of the federal government in the appointment of Vice Chancellors for public universities in the country.

ASUU argued that the responsibility should fall directly on the governing councils of the respective institutions.

The ASUU President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, who made the fresh call, pointed at the political interference that often accompanies the government appointment of such Vice Chancellors.

Osodeke, who outlined what should be the process of appointment of a university VC according to the law, said the final candidate chosen by the governing council should only be sent to the President, who is the visitor through the Minister of Education for ratification.

The ASUU president noted that if the process is adhered to, it will remove the crisis that usually accompanies the emergence of Vice Chancellors across public universities in the country and there will be an assurance that such a person is not simply the Minister of President’s candidate.

Explaining the process in a chat with Nigerian Tribune, he said, “The procedure to appoint a new VC for a public university in Nigeria is very clear and backed by the law.

“It is the governing council that has a sole responsibility to appoint a new vice- chancellor whenever there is a vacancy.

“The council will meet and constitute a committee, which will be made up of the university Senate and Council.

“The selection committee will conduct interviews for shortlisted candidates and the interviews may be in stages to arrive at the best three and recommend them to the larger Council to pick one for the position.

“The Council will then do thorough review of the entire process against each of the recommended candidate with the criteria used for selecting them.

“At this stage, the Council has the rights to pick anyone from the three and the person may not necessarily be the candidate with the highest marks based on their review and findings.

“And if there is an argument on who to pick among them, they will subject the process to voting with candidate that has the highest votes becomes the new VC and that ought to end the process before sending the name to the President, who is the visitor through the minister of education for ratification.

“So, it is not compulsory to pick number one on the list as the other two have equal chance of becoming the VC, but the council must have to put up a clear and convincing reason or reasons for rejecting the number one.”

Based on the explanation, Osodeke called on the government to hands off the picking of Vice Chancellors.

He said, “What we are seeing nowadays like the recent case of Admiralty University of Nigeria is about external interference from the government that somebody cannot be picked or that this or that person is the candidate of Mr. President or the Minister, which is supposed not to be so.

“If the system is allowed to work as it should, there won’t be any problem in this matter and that is why I will ask government to hands-off completely in the appointment of a new VC for public university in the country.”

Channel For Addressing Grievances

Further speaking, the ASUU president said in order to ensure merit and fairness, any person who feels unsatisfied with the selection process can approach the courts.

He said this would make the process transparent instead of running to the President or Minister when such issues come up.

“At this stage, court has the power to upturn the council’s decision if found to be unfair and the ruling will stand, especially if it is by the Supreme Court.

“So, neither the ministry nor presidency has the constitutional power to force any candidate on the council. It was those old days that the Council would send names of the best three candidates to the President to pick from and that is no longer the practice today.

“And that is why running to the president or minister to resolve appointment crisis instead of court is improper.

“After all, candidates in political elections in the country run to court when they feel cheated and whatever court says stands, especially if the ruling comes from the supreme court.

“That is the same procedure provided for by the in the appointment of a new vice-chancellor for a public university in Nigeria,” Osodeke submitted.