UNIZIK VC Crisis: “Withdraw Your Court Cases Within Seven Days  Council Orders Litigants

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

With the storm induced by the appointment of a substantive Vice Chancellor for the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, still raging, the Ambassador Greg Mbadiwe-led Governing Council has issued an order for the withdrawal of all pending Court cases.

It would be recalled that late October, the institution’s Governing Council, amidst vociferous opposition from many quarters, selected Ebonyi State-born Prof. Bernard Odoh as the Vice Chancellor.

The Academic Staff Union, ASUU, and several other bodies within the system had vehemently resisted the process  that finally threw up Prof Odoh, describing it as seriously flawed.

Several and collectively, the ASUU and other unions, had insisted that the process was not transparent and in line with due process, a development that saw most of them challenging the outcome of the process in Court.

But  the Governing Council on Tuesday November 12, 2024, issued a seven-day  dateline for all litigants to withdraw their actions or face disciplinary action.

The order  which was contained in  a memo dated November 11, 2024, specifically demanded staff and UNIZIK Unions who have filed suits in Courts against the selection process, to  within 7 days, withdraw them.

The memo captioned “Directive to withdraw legal action against the University” , was addressed to Concerned Staff, and copied to Principal Officers of the Institution,( Vice Chancellor, DVCs, Registrar, Bursar ,University Librarian) as well as Deans of Faculties and Heads of Departments.

Reacting to the development, the two most vocal opposition voices, the ASUU and Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, MDCN, dismissed the threat, noting that they cannot be intimidated.

Dr Sunday Orji ,the Secretary of MDCN ,UNIZIK Chapter insisted that the Council has to first withdraw its own legal action before demanding same from others.

According to him, the Council in addition to withdrawing its Court cases, has to also concede that there were procedural errors in the selection process of the Vice Chancellor.

“They have to withdraw their case first, and admit that the advert for the procedure for the selection process of the Vice Chancellor was wrong before talking about others withdrawing. They were the first to approach the court” MDCN stated.

As at the time of reporting, there were no signs that the aggrieved unions and staff members are in any way ready to obey the withdrawal order.

Rather, most of the bodies, particularly, the ASUU and MDCN, are ever prepared to dig deeper into the trenches.

“What the Pro-Chancellor fails to understand is that he is  dealing with intellectuals”, a member of ASUU quipped.

Instructively, the Federal Ministry of Education has since dismissed the selection of Prof Odoh as the new Vice Chancellor as null and void.

The Ministry’s position is in alignment with that of the Institution’s Unions, particularly as it relates to lack of due process.

Besides, the ASUU and MDCN have alleged that the new Vice Chancellor has not attained the position of a full Professor.

The University authorities have, however, written off the Education Ministry’s objection as lacking in substance.

A statement from Charles Otu,  the media aide to the Vice-Chancellor, while urging aggrieved staff and unions to obey the Pro-Chancellor’s directive, insisted that Prof Odoh’s selection was in total conformity with University’s extant laws.

He noted that the Federal  Ministry of Education lacks the legal authority to question the selection process.