Ahead of the selection and appointment of a new vice-chancellor for Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, a pressure group in Abia State has demanded transparency, integrity and fairness in the process.
Specifically, they called on the council chairman, Comrade Fidelis Edeh, to ensure that all candidates who applied for the position are availed a level playing field for the emergence of only the best as the new vice-chancellor.
The group, Abia Democratic Alliance (ADA), in a statement in Umuahia, threatened to go to court to stop the appointment if the process was compromised.
In the statement signed by the chairman, Nze Theophilus Nkire, and the secretary, Mazi Kanu Okoroafor, the group said Abia people will accept any Nigerian as the vice-chancellor provided the person emerges through a transparent process.
According to them, “MOUAU is a Federal Government institution; as such, any Nigerian who is qualified can be the vice-chancellor. But we shall reject anyone produced through a compromised and jaundiced process.”
They lamented that the council chairman, Comrade Fidelis Edeh, has of late been holding nocturnal meetings with some Enugu State indigenes who are staff of the university, including a former vice-chancellor of the institution, Prof. Hilary Edeoga.
The group noted that such meetings were suspicious in view of the fact that Comrade Edeh, who also hails from Enugu State, ought to be neutral and uphold equity and transparency in the process leading to the appointment of a new vice-chancellor.
“We have also observed with alarm the frequency of council meetings being convened by Edeh outside the normal regular and emergency. We just hope that it is not another ploy to compromise some members ahead of the appointment,” they declared.
The group called on the Federal Ministry of Education to take a special interest in the proceedings that will lead to the selection and appointment of a new vice-chancellor for MOUAU next month to ensure that only the best candidate emerges.
According to them, “We don’t want a repeat of what happened at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, where the then council chairman compromised and messed up the entire system. We demand transparency and fairness to ensure the credibility of the process. Anything short of it will not be acceptable to us,” they submitted.
