VC’s body flays Tambuwal’s appointment of VC, deputies

Says Appointments Were Irregular

The recent appointment of three principal officers for Sokoto State University by Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has drawn the ire of Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, (AVCNU), which described it as irregular.

In a letter to the governor, a copy of which The Guardian obtained, yesterday, the Secretary-General of AVCNU, Prof. Michael Faborode, said the exercise fell far short of laid down procedures in the appointment of Vice Chancellors, as enunciated in the amended Universities Miscellaneous Act, to which all universities were duty bound to follow.

Tambuwal, a lawyer, had on May 6, 2017 approved the appointment of Prof. Sani Dangoggo, erstwhile Director, Sokoto Energy Research Centre, Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, (UDUS), as the new Vice Chancellor of the Sokoto State University, following the expiration of Prof. Nuhu Omeiza Yaqoob’s tenure. 

A statement by Secretary to the State Government, (SSG), Prof. Bashir Garba, said the governor also approved appointments of Profs. Zayyanu Umar and Nasiru Ibrahim, as the new Deputy Vice Chancellors, (Academic) and (Administration) respectively.

According to the SSG, the appointments were in line with the powers conferred on the governor by Sokoto State University Law, 2009, as amended. Umar was Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, while Ibrahim was a lecturer at the Faculty of Agriculture all at UDUS.

Faborode, however, observed that the Sokoto State University Law, 2009, has its origins in the generic statutes common to all Nigerian and indeed world universities. 

He stressed that the State University Visitor’s powers to appoint principal officers is moderated by the procedure to endorse the recommendation from the Governing Council of the University by choosing two or three nominees, after a through selection process by a Joint Select Committee of Council and Senate.

He said: “Secondly, and most worrisome, is the appointment of two Deputy Vice Chancellors by your Excellency. “The University Law states expressly how DVCs are to be appointed, as obtains in all universities, to wit: the Vice Chancellor nominates two candidates (professors) for each post, from which the Senate votes to elect the DVCs. The DVCs-designate, elected by Senate, are now remitted to Council for ratification and formal appointment. The Visitor/Governor has no role specified in this regard.”

He alluded to Tambuwał’s tenure as the Speaker of House of Representatives, and the role he played in ensuring that the provision on the university autonomy was enshrined in the polity and regretted that his recent appointments of principal offices did not comply with the spirit.