CNPP demands reinstatement of sacked VCs, decries Education Minister’s insensitivity

The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has urged the Federal Government to immediately reinstate the Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Vincent Tenebe, and three others whose tenure were yet to elapse but were erroneously included among the 12 vice chancellors who were recently sacked.
The CNPP, in a statement by its Secretary-General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, also condemned the ‘erroneous’ inclusion of Tenebe’s name in the sack notice, adding that his tenure is yet to elapse.
It stated that the action of the Federal Government contravened laid down rules and could lead to industrial unrest in the education sector.
He stressed that the Governing Council empowered by law to recommend the sack of the NOUN VC has not recommended any of such action, hence the action of the government runs against the rule of law which the current administration has sworn to uphold.
The CNPP urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately call the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, to order, stressing that the action of the minister “will only attract more chaos in our universities”.
Ezugwu said CNPP and other civil society organisations will on Wednesday stage a peaceful protest in Abuja, to call for his resignation
It would be recalled that Adamu, had in a short statement on Saturday, simply said President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of new vice chancellors for the universities.
But the CNPP described the actions of the minister as reckless, while also faulting “the deliberate decision of the minister to replaced the vice chancellors with his northern kinsmen.”
The CNPP said the action of the minister contravened the University Miscellaneous Act No. 25, 1996 and further amended in 2003 and 2012 respectively and other agreements as contained in the 2009 FGN staff union agreement.
He pointed out that four out of the 12 newly-appointed vice chancellors are from Kano University, an action, he said, was a clear violation of the federal character principle
He urged human rights activists and those in the academia to rise and speak against the sack.
He said: “We received the news of the sack of the Vice Chancellor of NOUN and 12 others with shock. It is obvious that the Minister of Education is yet to abreast himself with the laws governing university system in Nigeria. We like to say the sack was done in bad taste and urge the minister to immediately reverse such sack”.