The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has again condemned the dissolution of governing councils of federal universities by the Federal Government, describing the action as illegal.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu since June 2023 dissolved the governing councils of all the federal universities in the country.
Governing council by the extant law establishing universities is the highest finance and administrative decision-making organ for each university.
However, the president of ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, reiterated that the dissolution of governing councils prematurely was not only an attack on university system but also totally contravenes the autonomy of public universities as enshrined in the Universities’ Miscellaneous Act.
He emphasised that running the universities by the vice chancellors in conjunction with the Minister of Education due to absence of councils is illegal.
According to him, the vice chancellors and ministers have now taken over the functions of the councils through illegal contract awards, approval of promotions, and recruitments without due process.
He said “ASUU does not only condemn these ‘anomalies’ in strong terms, it also again, calls on the Federal Government reverse the dissolution of the councils whose tenures were yet to expire and replace those, whose tenures had already expired at the period of the dissolution.”
Osodeke also advised various vice chancellors to stop taking matters meant for governing councils to the minister of education.
According to him, the continuous absence of governing councils has great consequences on the future of Nigerian universities.
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