Regarding allegations of the indiscriminate removal of vice-chancellors, Education Minister Morufu Alausa has been called before the House of Representatives Committee on University Education.
The committee further claimed that Alausa was responsible for university governing council dissolution. This declaration was made during a meeting in Abuja by Abubakar Fulata (APC-Jigawa), the chairman of the committee.
Fulata stated that the committee had just received several petitions against the minister, making his appearance crucial.
He said that the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, and Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education in Owerri were among the universities impacted.
The legislator reportedly stated that the education sector is now dealing with difficulties brought on by unsteady leadership, which resulted from unilateral actions to dissolve governing councils and remove substantive vice-chancellors.
Read Also: Ecobank Nigeria Unveils New Premier Branch on Victoria Island Lagos
Among other things, he emphasized the cases of acting vice-chancellors.
According to Fulata, such ambiguities pose a serious risk to the industry since they could lead to needless conflict among university administrators.
He cautioned that doing so might endanger the stability and tenure of the educational system and result in the abuse of pertinent rules and regulations.
Abubakar Kari, a spokesperson representing the University of Abuja’s concerned employees, said that they were taken aback by Aisha Maikudi’s removal from her position as vice-chancellor and the council’s dissolution on February 6, 2025.
Kari denounced the situation in response to a petition headed “Unwarranted Removal of Prof. Aisha Maikudi as Vice-Chancellor and Dissolution of Governing Council of University of Abuja.”
According to him, Patricia Lar was named acting vice-chancellor, Senator Lanre Tejuoso was appointed to the governing council, and Air Vice Marshal Ismaila Kaita (retd) was also relieved of his duties as council chairman.
Read Also: Ecobank Nigeria Unveils New Premier Branch on Victoria Island Lagos
Kari claims that these activities were against the Universities Miscellaneous Provisions Amendment Act n2003, which clearly specifies how a vice-chancellor can be removed.
He explained that the only body with the power to remove a vice-chancellor is a university’s governing council.
In addition to ensuring that council members serve out their tenure as elected representatives of the University Senate and congregation, he encouraged the lawmakers to intervene and replace Ms. Maikudi as soon as possible.
Both Ms. Maikudi and Mr. Kaita told the committee in their separate remarks that they had not yet received any correspondence about their termination.
