Admiralty University of Nigeria (ADUN), located in Ibusa, Delta State has been hit by controversy over the selection of a new Vice Chancellor.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the governing council of ADUN had announced the appointment of Professor Bankole Ogbogbo as substantive Vice Chancellor.
However, in the twist of events, the federal government announced Professor Lucian Chukwu as the substantive Vice Chancellor of ADUN.
The governing council of ADUN had held an extraordinary meeting on Friday for the purpose of selecting a new VC.
At the end of the exercise, the governing council announced Ogbogbo as the successful candidate, saying he received 9 out of 15 votes from members of the governing council.
He was selected from a shortlist of three highly qualified candidates.
However, the Federal Ministry of Education in a statement, revealed that Professor Chukwu is the new substantive VC of ADUN.
Director of Press and Public Relations at the Ministry, Folasade Boriowo, revealed that Chukwu polled 83.41 per cent of the total votes among the five candidates interviewed in contrast to the results released by the governing council.
According to the statement by Boriowo, the appointment of Chukwu is for a “single tenure of five years with effect from 28th February 2025”.
The statement reads: “The Governing Council of Admiralty University, Ibuzor conducted the selection exercise for the appointment of a substantive Vice-Chancellor on 26th and 27th February, 2025, at the Council Chamber of the University.
“At the end of the exercise, Professor Lucian O. Chukwu emerged as the highest scorer with 83.41 per cent among the five interviewed candidates”.
“In line with the principle of merit being upheld by the federal government, the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, has approved the appointment of Professor Lucian O. Chukwu as the substantive Vice-Chancellor of Admiralty University, Ibuzor.
“The appointment is for a single tenure of five years with effect from 28th February, 2025. The Honourable Minister wishes the new Vice-Chancellor a successful tenure of office.”
TNG reports Chukwu was a Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Management Services at the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
Meanwhile, some stakeholders at ADUN have described the VC selection process as an attempt to ditch merit.