By Anwar Usman
Prof. Bernard Odoh, the sacked Vice-Chancellor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, on Thursday, expressed concern over the method through which he was removed as the university’s VC, stating that it didn’t follow the due process.
Odoh’s concerns follow his sack and that of the university’s governing council over his purported “illegal” appointment.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, he stated that the Federal Government needed to wade in to address brewing tensions.
“The removal of the governing council and officials followed reports that the council illegally appointed an unqualified vice-chancellor without following due process.
“After the controversial appointment, the Federal Government stepped in to address tensions between the university’s Senate and the Governing Council of the 33-year-old institution.
“The government lamented over the council’s apparent disregard for the university’s governing laws in its selection process,” read the statement.
However, the removed VC, in an interview on Arise TV, maintained that he won’t accept his removal through a press release but rather after the recommendations of an investigating council.
He further stated that, “I’m not disobeying the President, but it is the governing council that will recommend my removal after investigating me,” adding that “Mr President could have been wrongly advised.”
“You can’t sack somebody you didn’t employ. The Visitor (Tinubu) appointed the council and the council followed due process to engage and give me a letter. He can’t remove me through a press release.
“There was no panel of inquiry. I was not appointed through a press release but rather by a constituted authority which followed a straightforward procedure,” he added.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had accused the Governing Council of the institution of failing to follow due process in Odoh’s appointment and had demanded that the ministry dissolve the council over acts of illegality.