Professor Michael Faborode: offers clarifications

Prof. Michael Faborode, the Secretary-General, Committee of Vice-Chancellors (CVC), says that the tenure of vice-chancellors of nine Federal Universities will expire on Feb. 15 and that it will be wrong to describe their removal by President Muhammadu Buhari as a sack.

Faborode, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja, said that it would not be fair to say that the vice-chancellors were sacked.

Media report on Saturday was that the Federal Government had sacked the Vice Chancellors of 12 Federal Universities that were established by the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

The report added that the Vice-Chancellor of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) was also sacked.

The affected universities are: Federal University, Lafia, Nasarawa State, Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State, Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State and Federal University, Wakari, Taraba State.

Others are Federal University, Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State, Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa State, Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Federal University, Ndufe-Alike, Ebonyi State and Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

Also affected are Federal University Gashua, Yobe State, Federal University, Gusau, Zamfara State and Federal University, Kebbi.

“The tenure of the vice-chancellors of nine of these universities expires on Feb. 15″, Faborode said.

“It will be unfair to say that they were sacked; they have exhausted their tenure; when your tenure is not renewed; it does not mean you are sacked. I do not know the reasons why the vice-chancellors of the other three universities were affected,’’ he added.