Contemporary controversy has trailed the appointment of Prof. Hakeem Fawehinmi as substantive Vice Chancellor (VC) of the College of Abuja (UniAbuja), with rising scrutiny centred not on his persona, however on the legality of the method that produced him.
The dispute revolves round an alleged breach of clearly outlined eligibility standards governing VC appointments, significantly the requirement that candidates should possess a Physician of Philosophy Diploma (PhD).
The college’s place of Vice Chancellor was marketed in 2025 with express situations, together with a PhD qualification and a minimal of 10 years’ expertise as a professor.
In keeping with sources aware of the event, amongst over 50 candidates who jostled for the place, 10 had been shortlisted after present process safety screening by the Division of State Providers (DSS).
The candidates subsequently participated in a rigorous two-day interview performed by the Joint Council/Senate Choice Board.
Following the choice course of, three candidates emerged, and the Governing Council adopted a merit-based system, choosing the candidate with the best rating, resulting in the emergence of Fawehinmi because the council’s most well-liked candidate.
Nonetheless, issues have now been raised over whether or not the eventual appointee met the basic educational requirement stipulated within the commercial.
It was gathered that each the Federal Ministry of Training and the College’s Governing Council are in receipt of a proper petition difficult the legality of the appointment course of on these grounds, successfully putting the matter underneath doable official overview.
Central to the controversy is the excellence between educational {and professional} {qualifications}. The appointment is being challenged on the grounds {that a} medical fellowship, reportedly held by the appointee, doesn’t represent a PhD or its equal, thereby calling into query the validity of his participation within the choice course of.
This argument depends on a Might 8, 2025, judgment of the Nationwide Industrial Court docket of Nigeria, with Go well with No. NICN/ABJ/421/2024, which reportedly held that medical fellowship {qualifications} can’t be equated with a PhD.
The courtroom was mentioned to have made a transparent distinction, stating {that a} postgraduate diploma conferring medical fellowship standing doesn’t meet the brink of a tutorial doctorate.
Additional reinforcing this interpretation is a March 5, 2026 clarification by the Federal Ministry of Training, which reiterated that whereas postgraduate medical schools could also be accredited to award PhDs, their fellowship certifications stay skilled {qualifications} slightly than educational levels.
The arguments indicate that if the marketed requirement was strictly a PhD or its equal, and if a fellowship doesn’t meet that commonplace, then the eligibility of the appointed candidate, and by extension, the integrity of your complete course of, could also be essentially flawed.
The college’s Governing Council should be aware that adherence to marketed standards isn’t merely procedural however foundational to the legitimacy of such high-level educational appointments.
Past College of Abuja controversy, a highlight on Nigeria’s college system reveals a disturbing sample, which is quick entrenching itself throughout public universities- the flagrant breach of legal guidelines and procedures guiding the appointment of vice chancellors and different principal officers.
What ought to ordinarily be a clear, merit-driven course of designed to safeguard educational excellence is more and more degenerating right into a theatre of controversy, energy struggles, and institutional instability.
Underneath the College Miscellaneous Provision Act of 1993, as amended, sometimes called the College Autonomy Act, governing councils are empowered to promote vacancies, represent search committees and conduct interviews to pick certified professors, usually with at the least 10 years’ expertise, for a single five-year tenure.
College autonomy was supposed to protect establishments from undue political interference and paperwork, enabling them to handle their affairs effectively and competitively.
However from the disaster of VC appointments reported throughout public universities, it’s obtrusive that slightly than strengthen governance, some councils are responsible of manipulating appointment processes, sidelining benefit and ignoring statutory necessities in favour of most well-liked candidates.
Federal authorities have maintained that whereas skilled fellowships are crucial for medical experience and profession development, they don’t substitute the PhD, which stays the benchmark for educational management roles in universities.
Because the matter stays contestable, consideration is firmly on whether or not the Governing Council, which is the appointing authority, will uphold the choice or revisit the method in mild of the authorized and regulatory questions raised.
In view of the foregoing, the query that must be answered is ‘who’s behind this aromatic disregard of the regulation and the basic requirement ignored?”
Or higher nonetheless, whose curiosity was this turning of the blind eye to this basic requirement meant to fulfill?
Extra questions will definitely have to be requested and answered by the Governing Council and the supervisory ministerial division.
Dr Yusuf Auwal, Researcher and Public Affairs Analyst, writes from Abuja