Indications emerged on Sunday showing the reasons for the removal of the former Vice Chancellor of the Rivers State University, Professor Blessing Didia.
The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Saturday, terminated the appointment of Professor Didia over the recruitment scandal rocking the institution.
The governor gave the botched recruitment process into the University’s workforce as the reason for Didia’s sack.
Wike also ordered the cancellation of the process.
But inside sources knowledgeable in the matter told theportcitynews that Didia was the fall guy as both the governor and other senior members of his kitchen cabinet were well-involved in the recruitment process which was fraught with favoritism.
It was gathered that majority of candidates pencilled down for recruitment by the University in its well-publicized recruitment exercise were from the Ikwerre ethnic group, a development which generated criticism from other ethnic groups.
More so, the sources said that the Chairman Governing Council of the University was directly responsible for the employment process on the directive of the Governor.
According to an inside source who does not want to be named, “He (Wike) made the Chairman of the governing council in charge of the recruitment process. So there was never a time that such responsibilities were transferred to the former Vice Chancellor. The Vice-Chancellor’s role was only to endorse the recruited candidates. He was just the fall guy who needed to be sacked in order for the government to redeem its image”
Another source said that the failure of the former Vice Chancellor to enforce a list sent from the government house and his inability to force the registrar of institution to issue appointment letters to candidates from government house who did not follow due recruitment process was the nail to the coffin.
The source hinted that all 23 LGA chairmen also submitted candidates to the VC for employment, thereby derailing the process.
He revealed that the process was only cancelled but not terminated, adding that a friendly VC will continue the process.
