Osegbue, Odinkalu Drags Soludo to Court Over VC Appointment
The tussle over the Vice Chancellorship of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU) involves Professor Chike Osegbue, who filed a suit at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria.
Osegbue claims to have come first in the Selection and Appointment exercise and is seeking the court’s interpretation of part of the COOU Law 2014 and what he terms a “STOLEN MANDATE.”
He wants the court to declare him the substantive Vice Chancellor, disputing the appointment of Professor Kate Omenugha as the Vice Chancellor.
However, a notable point is that Osegbue has never been officially appointed to the position of Vice Chancellor, which can only be attained through formal appointment. The current acting Vice Chancellor is Professor Kate Omenugha, who took over in December 2023.
Osegbue’s legal challenge comes because he topped the Governing Council’s recommended list for the position but has not been appointed, leading to the court case seeking to nullify Omenugha’s appointment and argue his entitlement to the office.
Thus, while Osegbue claims a mandate based on his position in the selection exercise, the formal appointment process remains critical for officially occupying the Vice Chancellor role, and this legal dispute is ongoing at the National Industrial Court.
About two weeks ago, after the University Council concluded its search and recommendation process, the governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Soludo, appointed Professor Kate Azuka Omenugha, the substantive Vice Chancellor of the University. Professor Omenugha, the second female professor of mass communications in Nigeria, was the Acting Vice Chancellor of the university for about twenty months before her confirmation two weeks ago.
The decision to approach the industrial court is based on Osegbue’s belief that he was the most qualified for the job.
However, this action, supported by the university’s council chairman, is an affront to Governor Soludo, who reserves the right to appoint a Vice Chancellor for the Anambra State-owned Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University.
Professor Osegbue had, in a piece, claimed that the University Visitor (Governor Soludo) violated the university ordinance. “Let us be clear, the struggle is not over. Our mandate has not been lost, it has only been deferred,” Osegbue said. Even more, cautioning the governor, Osegbue wrote that “those who wield authority today must also reckon with conscience of tomorrow,” he admonished Soludo.
However, for unclear reasons, it was gathered that the university council chairman, Odinkalu, who was appointed by Governor Soludo, wanted Professor Chike Osegbue to be appointed as the Vice Chancellor of the university, but was disappointed by the governor’s choice. Placed side by side in terms of academic proficiency and global competitiveness, Professor Kate Omenugha towers far and above Professor Osegbue in measurable academic credentials in terms of quality publications. Even more, Omenugha also trumps Osegbue in terms of projects attracted to the university through her social capital.
While Omenugha has attracted multiple multi-million naira projects, Osegbue has attracted nothing to the University.
Only recently, Omenugha attracted thousands of Euros in funding to the university from Erasmus.
In addition, during the twenty months she served as Vice Chancellor in an acting capacity, the university underwent a transformation, characterised by her three Vs: Value, Viability, and Visibility. All these are easily verifiable.
It remains to be seen how Governor Soludo will receive this challenge from Professors Odinkalu and Osegbue.
