A Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned for ruling the suit challenging the process which recently produced a new substantive Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK).
Justice Inyang Ekwo adjourned to January 20, 2025, after taking applications challenging the Court’s jurisdiction on the matter and also another application for joinder, filed by the Vice Chancellor, Bernard Odoh, to be a party in the suit.
The suit emanated amidst the controversy surrounding the emergence of the 7th substantive Vice Chancellor of the University after a National Industrial Court in Awka validated the Governing Council’s scoring templates.
The Federal High Court had however made an order in October 2024, directing the parties to maintain the status quo with respect to the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of the University, pending the hearing and determination of a Motion on Notice filed on the matter.
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The appointment of Odoh was riddled with controversy over the selection process in which Odoh’s academic profiles were being queried.
Odoh was said to have claimed he received his professorship at the Federal University, Gusau (FUGUS), Zamfara State, where he also claimed to be a visiting professor between July 2015 and October 2017.
However, the authorities of the University in Gusau have since denied that he ever served within the period. Court documents show a letter from the University’s Registrar, in which Odoh was invited to serve in the position at FUGUS, but he never resumed.
(Editor: Ken Eseni)
