Former South-East spokesperson to President Bola Tinubu, Josef Onoh, has rejected claims that the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, meddled in the management of the University of Abuja or sought to manipulate the hiring of a dismissed academic.
In an official release issued in Abuja, Onoh characterized reports asserting that the minister coerced the institution into naming Professor Hamzat Adebayo to a key executive role as untrue and deceptive.
He stated that the assertions misconstrued the statutory regulations overseeing the governance of federal tertiary institutions.
According to Onoh, the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, as amended by the Universities Autonomy Act, accords federal universities self-governance regarding human resources and appointments. He noted that the power to hire personnel, endorse inter-university transfers, and designate top officials lies exclusively with each school’s Governing Council and Senate.
“The Minister of Education does not possess the executive or statutory power to unilaterally deploy, transfer, or insert any academic staff into the payroll or administrative structure of an autonomous institution like the University of Abuja,” Onoh said.
He further brushed aside claims that the minister enabled the academic’s transfer from the Federal University Dutsin-Ma to the University of Abuja. According to him, such movements adhere to established protocols, encompassing a formal request by the scholar, departmental evaluation, Senate clearance, and final authorization from the institution’s Governing Council.
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Onoh mentioned that his conversations with the minister verified that the Federal Ministry of Education played no part in internal academic hiring by tertiary institutions. He asserted that Alausa remains dedicated to proper procedures, merit, and institutional independence.
“The Honorable Minister for Education Dr. Tunji Alausa remains unswervingly committed to the rule of law, due process, and the preservation of meritocracy across Nigeria’s tertiary education sector,” he said.
Onoh contended that insinuations suggesting the minister was manipulating staffing choices were designed to smear his standing and generate friction within the academic institution.
He advised press outlets to authenticate details and grasp the legal guidelines governing public bodies prior to circulating stories rooted in unidentified sources.
Additionally, he appealed to the populace to ignore the assertions, remarking that the ministry stays intent on executing policy changes to elevate the standard, facilities, and benchmarks of instruction throughout the nation.
