Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) chapter are at loggerheads with the authorities of the state over the appointment of a new Vice Chancellor for the state-owned institution.
They vowed to cripple academic activities if due process was not followed in appointing a new Vice Chancellor for the institution.
Briefing newsmen in Calabar, Chairman of ASUU, CRUTECH chapter, Com. Emmanuel Ettah, said the term of the current acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Akon Monday Joshua, would come to an end on November 7, 2019.
He added that five names had been submitted by the institution’s Governing Council to Governor Ben Ayade, who is visitor to the institution.
He revealed that there was a plot to appoint an acting Vice Chancellor outside the five names submitted to Ayade, stressing that all students’ examination scripts had been returned to the VC’s office until a new acting VC took over the students’ examination scripts,.
However, when contacted, the Special Adviser Media & Publicity to Ayade, Mr Christian Ita, said,”It was a mere speculation and rumor on the part of ASUU.”
Added Ettah: “On Thursday 7 November 2019 will be six months when the acting VC, Prof. Akon Monday Joshua, was appointed to pilot the affairs of the university. Before then, the council was not constituted. But a month ago, the council was newly constituted led by Dr. Emil Inyang.
“The government appointees, Senate elected members, admission elected members and convocation elected members are the people that constituted the Governing Council. But the time was too short for the council to advertise for the position of Vice Chancellor since it requires at least 6 weeks to advertise.
The tenure of the Acting VC will be expiring on Thursday, 7th of November 2019. By law, she cannot continue and neither be reappointed.
“There’ is a procedure to appoint an acting VC and the procedure is that the university Senate through management and council will recommend a few professors to the Governing Council for onward forwarding to His Excellency, the visitor.
“Five names have been forwarded and we are in the know from a reliable information that the visitor wants to appoint an Acting VC outside that list. And that would be a breach to the University Miscellaneous Act 2003.”
“Our action as a union is not to oppose government, but to inform the government that due process is involved and should be followed through in appointing a Vice Chancellor.
“So the union feels that if that is done, the autonomy of the university as entrenched in the constitution and as entrenched in the 2009 agreement between ASUU and the Federal Government of Nigeria will be eroded and that might lead to litigation,” he said.
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