A pressure group, the Coalition for the Defence of Truth, has urged the Federal Ministry of Education to act swiftly to prevent a plot aimed at thwarting the appointment of a substantive vice-chancellor for Yakubu Gowon University, formerly known as the University of Abuja, or risk the institution facing serious succession issues.
In a press statement issued by the coalition’s chairman, Yusuf Mohammed, and secretary, James Kalu, the group highlighted “a spurious petition written by disgruntled members of the university, calling on the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on University Education, Hon. Abubakar Hassan Fulata, to halt the process for the appointment of a substantive vice-chancellor and registrar for Yakubu Gowon University.
“As a coalition committed to the defence of truth, we assert that, apart from the signatory who represented the aggrieved parties, most of the names listed are fictitious, with the deliberate intention to mislead and present the petition as having the backing of a substantial number of staff.
“We see no justification for inviting the National Assembly to suspend the process leading to the appointment of a substantive vice-chancellor and registrar. There is no doubt that the recruitment of over 400 workers was conducted without adherence to the Federal Character policy. Job seekers were recruited without any advertisements, as required by law.”
The coalition stated that the names of aggrieved staff mentioned in the petition were fabricated, asserting that “some of them are not employees of the university, as this was done to deceive the members of the Representatives Committee into believing they have widespread support”.
The statement called on the federal government to intervene in the situation to allow the acting vice-chancellor, Professor Patricia Manko Lar, to initiate the process of appointing a new vice-chancellor, which the newly recruited staff are resisting, as they continue to advocate for the regularisation of their employment.
