The appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor
for the University of Port Harcourt has run
into a stalemate following attempts by the Pro-
Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing
Council, Engr Gesi Asamaowei, to impose on the
University, a candidate with questionable NYSC
credentials from the home state of Nigerian
President. In what has come to be known as the
‘Bayelsa Agenda’ within the University of Port
Harcourt circles, there would appear to be a
carefully well-worked out scheme by the Pro-
Chancellor, himself an indigene of Bayelsa
State to foist it off on the Governing Council, an
indigene of Bayelsa State as the next Vice
Chancellor however inappropriate the choice of
the candidate may be.

The processes for the appointment of a new VC
began on 26 January 2015 when the University
called for applications in nationally circulated
newspapers to fill the position which will soon
be vacant. Among other things, the candidates
were required to have a minimum of ten years
post-professorial experience and be in excellent
physical and mental health. Checks revealed
that at the close of applications, ten candidates
applied. They are: Professors Ozo-Mercuri
Ndimele, Israel Owate, Bio Nyanayo, N E S
Lale, Ebi Awotua Efebo, Francis D. Sikoki,
Blessing Didia, Patrick Uadia, Tamunopriye
Agiobenibo and T.B Johnnie. Of the ten
applicants, four of them, namely Professors
Sikoki, Efebo, Johnnie and Nyanayor are
indigenes of Bayelsa State while the rest are
from Rivers State except Prof Uadia who hails
from Edo State.

The close of application was followed by the
inauguration of two committees by Council,
namely the Search and Selection Committees. It
was gathered that the Search Committee was to
search out qualified candidates who in the
opinion of the Committee are eminently
qualified but failed to apply while the Selection
Committee was saddled with the responsibility
of conducting interview on shortlisted
candidates and subsequently recommend the
top three candidates to Council from among
whom one will be appointed after voting by
Council members.

Shortly after the completion of the work of the
Search Committee, what followed was the
referendum by the university community which
is a standard conventional practice of selection
of Vice-Chancellors in Nigerian Universities. It
was revealed that the candidates polled the
following votes in the referendum: Prof. Lale
-245; Prof. Didia-89; Prof. Owate-28; Prof
Efebo-26; Prof Ndimele 9; Prof Agiobenibo-1;
Nyanayor-1; and Sikoki-1. Professors Uadia and
Johnnie did not participate in the referendum
as rules do not allow external applicants to
participate. Thus Prof Lale was declared winner
of the referendum, having polled 245 out of 400
validly cast votes.

Investigations revealed that trouble began
when the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the
Selection Committee literally confiscated the
raw grades by individual Committee members
and went home with them without allowing
room for collective collation of the results on
the spot. This runs contrary to the conventional
practice where the panelists are expected to
collectively collate and take a position as to the
standing of each candidate. When they
reconvened the next day the Selection
Committee came up with a result which shows
that Prof. Sikoki who polled 1 vote in the
referendum surprisingly topped the list while
Prof. Lale who polled 245 votes at the
referendum came second. The third candidate
on the list is Prof Efebo. It is interesting to note
that Professors Sikoki and Efebo are from
Bayelsa State while Lale is from Rivers State.
It is important to point out that during the
interview; Prof. Sikoki failed to show proof of
one of the most basic requirements for
appointment into public service in Nigeria-
NYSC discharge or exemption certificate! It was
authoritatively gathered that when Prof. Sikoki
was asked to produce his NYSC certificate, he
claimed he lost it. Even so, the Pro-Chancellor
still presented him as number one candidate for
consideration by Council. This did not go down
well with some members of Council. We
gathered that they argued that if Prof. Sikoki
has questionable credentials, he ought normally
to have been excluded from the process. As the
next person is not from Bayelsa State, the
Chairman reportedly objected. Indeed, in a fit
of anger, he queried why people were digging
into other people’s records, arguing that some
of those who were very vocal may also have
tainted records. Given the stiff opposition he
encountered from members of Council, he
caused Council to be adjourned to the next day
so that Prof. Sikoki would present a sworn
affidavit to give legal backing to his claim.
Expectedly, Prof. Sikoki appeared before
Council the next day with an affidavit dated 2nd
February 2015 from the Choba Magistrate
Court to the effect that he served with the
University of Jos, Plateau State but that the
certificate has been lost. This immediately
generated suspicions in the minds of some
members of Council as the Courts in the state
have been shut down for nearly one year. A
case for verification of his claim was therefore
made. In this regard, Council is to sponsor a trip
for an investigator to the University of Jos
where he claimed to have served and possibly,
the Secretariat of the NYSC in Plateau state. The
Council is to reconvene on May 26 2015.

While the outcome of the investigation is being
awaited, some members of the university
community who spoke on condition of
anonymity have been asking questions which
speak directly to the propriety of the whole
process. These are: where on earth is an entire
interview process stood down just because of
an applicant who is unable to produce the
required documents? Further, by the Pro-
Chancellor’s insistence that one out of three
candidates be selectively invited to appear
before the entire Council to validate a claim,
how might a level-playing field be guaranteed
for the other two candidates involved in the
selection process? This is particularly worrisome
as it was learnt that the responsibility for short-
listing and screening of candidates is solely the
statutory role of the Selection Board while that
of Council is to appoint. In the circumstances,
how might the Pro-Chancellor discharge the
moral burden of the charge of bias, double
standard, impunity and violation of due
process? Importantly, what justification does
Council have for wasting public resources in the
misguided search for a required document on
behalf of a candidate, particularly a document
that is ordinarily a condition precedent for
appointment into the nation’s public service?

Furthermore, apart from being from the same
state with the Pro-Chancellor as well as
Nigeria’s President, is there any special quality
that Prof. Francis Sikoki possesses that is
manifestly absent in the other candidates?
More fundamentally, is it possible for an
affidavit to have been validly sworn to at the
Choba Magistrate Court on the February 2nd
2015 bearing in mind that the Judiciary has
been shut down in Rivers State since June
2014? The answer to the last question is a
categorical no. That being the case, the
inescapable conclusion to be drawn is that the
preferred candidate of the Pro-Chancellor and
Chairman of Council can hardly escape the
serious charge of forgery. What this suggests is
that the search for Prof. Sikoki’s NYSC certificate
is of no moment, having produced an affidavit
that common sense and logic suggest must be a
fruit of fraud. In an interview with one of the
candidates who did not make it to the top three,
he argued, on condition of anonymity, that ‘this
is potentially dangerous for ethics and values
for the University of Port Harcourt. If the moral
content of a Vice-Chancellor is tainted with
fraud, how might he discharge the responsibility
for training young people in character and
learning which is what a university does?’ Even
more significantly is what happens to the
appointment of a VC for the University if the
Pro-Chancellor is irrevocably committed to
promoting a candidate with questionable
credentials that is found unacceptable by a
critical segment of Council? Might this lead to a
further stalemate when Council meets on 26
May 2015? If that turns out to be the case, what
happens after 29 May 2015 when the mantle of
the country’s leadership changes hands and
with it, the likelihood of dissolution of Governing
Councils of the nation’s universities? As the
university community awaits the final outcome
of this whole drama, these are questions the
Pro-chancellor cannot wish away.



Source: saharareporters.com/2015/05/17/why-appointment-new-vice-chancellor-university-port-harcourt-has-stalled

CC: fynestboi, lalasticlala, seun, otokx, sleekyshuga, sinaj

At last we can hear something new... As students we have been rooting for prof.Ndimele to succed joeseph ajeinka... Well lemme keep ma fingers crossed... OP mazel tov for this info!

I just hope Prof. Ndimele win.

Thats if he can reverse the evil the old V.C did