Crisis Looms at Federal University of Health Sciences Over VC, DVC’s Disagreements

Community members and staff of the Federal University of Health Sciences, Otukpo, Benue State, have expressed concern that the face-off between the vice-chancellor and deputy vice-chancellor could affect the smooth running of the three-year-old institution while calling for the urgent intervention of the ministry of education and other relevant authorities. Uchechukwu Nnaike reports

Newly established institutions usually face teething challenges such as inadequate funds, an uncommitted workforce, low staff turnover, and loyalty issues. But it takes the determination, cooperation, and resilience of the leaders to overcome the challenges and stand firm. Contrary actions could destabilise the system and stall progress. 

There is an imminent crisis at the recently established Federal University of Health Sciences, Otukpo (FUHSO), Benue State, following the misunderstanding between the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Innocent Ujah and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (administration), Professor Ediga Agbo, which culminated in a memo relieving the deputy vice-chancellor of his duties. 

The letter, dated December 22, 2023, with the title ‘RE: Renewal of Appointment as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Admin), was signed by the Registrar, Mallam Aminu Abba.

The letter stated, “The deputy vice-chancellor (Admin) may please recall that his appointment as the deputy Vice-Chancellor was renewed on 29 November 2022, with effect from 2nd October 2022. The position of deputy vice-chancellor is to assist the vice-chancellor in the day-to-day smooth running of the university.

“The vice-chancellor has observed that he is no longer getting total cooperation from you. Therefore, he can no longer work with you as the deputy vice-chancellor (administration).

In view of the above, your service as the deputy Vice-Chancellor is no longer required with effect from Friday, 22nd December 2023.”

In a swift response dated December 24, 2023, the deputy vice-chancellor, while acknowledging the memo, said the registrar would have advised the vice-chancellor against it because it completely summarises the entire problem of the institution, “which is the fact that we are operating with extremely limited knowledge of university administration.”

Agbo refuted the claim in the memo that the vice-chancellor is not enjoying total cooperation from him, saying, “Let me state unequivocally that the vice-chancellor is receiving my full cooperation. My job is to assist him in running the university, as was made clear in your memo. I am doing that. However, I cannot compel him to accept my input into everything he does as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the university.”

He stressed the need to draw the vice-chancellor’s attention when he observed that some actions were improper. 

“There have been quite a handful of such situations, and because I had to point out the errors in those actions, it has come to appear that he is not receiving my cooperation, even though I mean very well for him and the university with every sense of responsibility and fairness.”

Questioning the appropriateness of the action against him, he cited Schedule 4 (6) of the FUHSO Act, 2020, which states: “The deputy vice-chancellor(s) may be removed from office by the council, acting on the recommendation of the vice-chancellor and senate.”

“Even though I cannot force myself on the vice-chancellor as a deputy to him, there is something called the principle of fair hearing. I find your memo very humiliating and completely injurious to my fundamental rights as both a human being and an accomplished academic.

“I do not believe that the vice-chancellor has the powers to summarily remove a deputy vice-chancellor without a proper process. But that is and has been the only point of departure between the two of us and which he has come to describe as ‘not receiving total cooperation’ today.”

Agbo claimed that the vice-chancellor does not operate with recourse to any laid down norms and operates his own personal laws while treating the university like a personal estate. 

The deputy vice-chancellor also regretted that the university had existed for about four years under the leadership of the vice-chancellor. “There was a governing council in place for over three years. We did not take advantage of this to make a statute stipulating our conditions of service. In the absence of such a document, we have operated without any organised guidelines, and the whims of the vice-chancellor have basically driven our actions. 

“Most of the time, what we do is completely alien to established university norms. It is because I do not agree with such actions, most of which amount to illegalities, that I am now seen as not giving total cooperation,” he said.

For instance, he claimed that since the establishment of the university, they have never sat as principal officers to make a plan and assign responsibilities for themselves.

“Personally, I have been operating with the knowledge of how a university is run from the experience I brought with me. In fact, remember that I pointed out that as principal officers, we had had only three meetings for which we have never seen any minutes. There is no document anywhere, official or unofficial, where any specific duties have been assigned to me. He micromanages everything. The vice-chancellor is very secretive about matters, and most of the time, we get to hear about some activities from the rumour mill, and we are left stammering while trying to respond to questions without displaying our ignorance.”

According to Agbo, well-run universities operate on three committee systems: council committees, management committees and senate committees, but “in almost four years of existence, we are yet to fully organise. The former council chairman forced the council committees at the last meeting (after three years of council existence) before the council was dissolved. The vice-chancellor immediately discarded them, particularly the one charged with the responsibility to produce conditions of appointment and promotions for which he is the chairman.”

He also claimed that the institution does not have an approved document specifying the conditions of service. “In other universities, that document is driven and produced from the office of the deputy vice-chancellor, administration in consultation with all stakeholders before being put before management and eventually considered by other organs of the university for approval of both senate and council.”

The DVC also claimed that the vice-chancellor appointed staff to the professorial cadre and confirmed them without recourse to any instrument. 

“He knows I have never supported the appointments which he went ahead to announce to an emergency senate session that he had secured confirmation for. 

“He alone knows the instrument he gave the assessors to use for assessing the candidates because FUHSO does not have any. No prima facie cases were established for any of the staff. Apart from the interview that they attended, there was never a time that we sat to consider the results of the interview. So, the vice-chancellor constituted himself into departmental appointments and promotions committee, prima facie committee, central appointments and promotions committee, council appointments and promotions committee and confirmed the appointments. If he sought the approval of the minister of education to confirm the professors on behalf of the council, it means the minister was deceived. It is doubtful that the minister was consulted to approve on behalf of the council.”

“Moreover, appointment or promotion of staff to professorial cadre is neither a matter of senate nor emergency. The vice-chancellor himself went through the process of being promoted to a professorial rank, so he cannot be ignorant of the proper process. On my part, I remain opposed to it,” he said. 

Agbo stated that the vice-chancellor repeated the same process on December 7, 2023, when he, without prior notification, invited principal officers to come and sit on a promotion exercise that was completely alien to university norms.

“He wanted us to just interact with some staff (both junior and senior staff) and then approve their promotions. No Annual Performance Evaluation Reports (APER), no recommendations from their immediate supervisors, no curriculum vitae, and no confidential files of the staff. As far as I am concerned, it is because I objected to that process and subsequently left before the exercise commenced because he verbally insulted me, and he has now come up with the accusation that he is not getting total support from me. 

“Of course, he has my support always, and I will continue to support him. But I cannot support illegality. I am not called to support illegality. We (FUHSO) are gradually becoming the butt of jokes around town because of how the university is run and particularly because of our appointment criteria,” the DVC said.

He added that the vice-chancellor operates a highly secretive process whereby no major plans of the university are discussed till they have been set in motion. 

“Projects are considered by the Tenders Board (which is basically a carefully selected family and friends group) and then on to execution. None of his deputies is privy to what he does about capital projects.”

While reaffirming his loyalty to the vice-chancellor, Agbo, however, said that where loyalty to both the vice-chancellor and the system is at variance, he must choose to be loyal to the system because the system will outlive both of them, and posterity will remember them for how they comported themselves. 

“Therefore, if in trying to point out to him politely that his actions are at variance with established university norms and do not portray FUHSO as a well-run system, I am construed as not being loyal or not giving total cooperation, I can only offer my most sincere apologies without deviating from the side of truth and the interest of FUHSO. I will not rubbish the fact that I am a properly appointed and experienced professor of over 20 years. If he was being loyal to the system, we would be in tandem, and there would have been no conflict.”

He reiterated that that memo is heavily flawed and that he remains the deputy vice-chancellor of administration until a governing council says otherwise or the minister of education says otherwise on behalf of the council. 

Meanwhile, a source at the university told THISDAY that the university is gradually heating up due to the VC’s high-handedness, adding that staff members do not support his management style. But anyone who tried to oppose or correct him during meetings would be insulted and sent out of the meeting.

The source revealed that the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Sonny Echono, intervened after the DVC’s response. He was said to have told the vice-chancellor that he had no power to sack the DVC without the consent of the council and senate and advised him to withdraw the memo. 

The university source stated that the deputy vice-chancellor has resumed his duties. But the memo sacking him has not been withdrawn because the vice-chancellor has not directed the registrar to do so. 

He called for a proper investigation into the activities of the vice-chancellor, especially the alleged manufacturing of fake professors. 

However, in a telephone conversation with THISDAY, the university’s spokesperson, Mr. James Onogwu said the matter has been resolved and settled administratively. 

When asked about the allegations against the vice-chancellor, he said: “As a matter of fact, there is nothing of that nature, you know very well that if you are angry you can say anything.”

Onogwu pointed out that the vice-chancellor has held several public offices and cannot engage in the activities as alleged, and reiterated that the problem is over, and that both parties are back as a family.

When this reporter requested for an official statement, he declined, saying that it is private for now, “but the most important thing is that the two parties are back as usual to their normal positions.”