Removal of 12 VCs is illegal – ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Tuesday, February 23, in Abuja condemned the recent removal of 12 vice-chancellors of federal universities by the federal government describing it a violation of the law, NAN reports. Nasir Isa, the ASUU president, stated this while briefing newsmen on the “state of the nation”. The federal government had on Friday, February 12, announced the removal of the vice-chancellors and appointment of their replacements. Isa said ASUU National Executive Council received the news with a lot of concern due to its implication for due process, university autonomy and the growth and development of universities. He said: “Going by the provisions of the Nigerian University Miscellaneous (Amendment) Act 2003, only the Governing Councils are bestowed with the powers of appointing and removing vice-chancellors. “The latest action in these universities has justified our consistent demand for proper governance structure and process in Nigerian university system.” The ASUU president on the appointment of a vice-chancellor, said the council would only select the vice-chancellor and inform the visitor. He said as stated in the University Amendment Act of 2003, 4 (b), the council shall select and appoint as vice-chancellor, one candidate from among three candidates recommended to it and thereby inform the visitor. Isa said the vice-chancellor could only be removed from office by the governing council on grounds of conduct or inability to discharge the function of the office. “We, therefore, call on the federal government to toe the path of legality and due process by gazetting the law appointing the councils,” he said. He said the government should mandate “the councils to immediately commence the process of appointing new vice-chancellors for the affected universities.”However, Isa noted the removal of the vice-chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria was in conformity with the Amendment Act of 2003. He said the act provides five years non-renewable tenure for a vice-chancellor in the Nigerian university system. In a related development, ASUU has called on the federal government to exempt federal universities from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy. Dr. Nasir Isa, the president of ASUU, made the call at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja. Isa said the TSA has made it difficult for the universities to fulfill their functions properly, especially in research fields.