As the tenure of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Professor Ndowa. S. Lale draws to an end with professors from different faculties justling to replace him, his anointed candidate, Professor Okey Onuchukwu has reportedly been disqualified by the Department of State Services.
The race for the University’s top position has led the formation of cabals within the top echelon of the institution’s teaching force.
Onuchukwu, a professor of economics is a former appointee of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, in charge of procurement.
He was said to have resigned his appointment with the state government to run for the office of Vice-Chancellor to fulfil the clamour by the Ikwerre Ethnic group to produce a vice-chancellor for the institution.
Sources knowledgeable in the matter said Onuchkwu was disqualified after DSS opened a file on him. The details of the file were not immediately clear.
Lale, whose tenure elapses in June is hoping to install a successor amidst reports that he altered several rules regarding the voting pattern of the University’s Governing Council.
He also leaves a legacy of students’ suppression, enactment of policies that made it impossible for thousands of students to graduate and allegations of running the school like a military barracks.
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The “Governing Council” is a statutory body constituted by the federal government for the control of policy, finance, personnel and physical resources of a university.
It is also responsible for policymaking and regulations. The council is the highest political
body of any university and its membership comprises persons from both inside and outside the university community.
Though the minister of education has the final say on who becomes the VC, the council will vote and who wins will be presented to the minister.
Some academics in the institution criticized their colleagues for dragging the institution into partisan politics.
They said that it has become a PDP vs APC thing, adding that the entrance of mainstream politics into the University’s affairs has done a lot of damage.
