The management of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) in Enugu State has refuted a report that a new vice-chancellor of the university has been appointed.
The spokesperson of UNN, Agha Inya, announced this in a statement on Friday night.
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New vice-chancellor in sight?
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the acting Vice-Chancellor of the university, Oguejiofor Ujam, had said his tenure would elapse in August and that he would hand over to a would-be appointed vice-chancellor.
This newspaper gathered that the process of appointing a new vice-chancellor of the institution had been ongoing for a while now.
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The new vice-chancellor was expected to be announced on Friday, but that did not happen after the process ended inconclusive.
Speculations were rife on Friday that a former top official of the Enugu State Government was appointed as UNN vice-chancellor.
But reacting in the Friday statement, Mr Inya, described the claim as “misleading.”
“We wish to state categorically that no such appointment has been made. The selection process for a substantive Vice-Chancellor is still ongoing, and no candidate has been announced or confirmed,” he said.
“The general public is advised to disregard these unfounded reports. They are the product of mischief-makers and purveyors of falsehood who seek to mislead and incite unsuspecting members of the public with baseless speculations.”
The UNN spokesperson said the university remains committed to a transparent and merit-based selection process.
“The selection committee, chaired by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Engr. Kayode Ojo, is diligently carrying out its mandate and will announce the most qualified candidate upon conclusion of the process,” he said.
“We urge all stakeholders to remain calm and allow the process to run its full course without undue distraction.”
Background
Tension has been high in Enugu State since the selection process for a new UNN vice-chancellor began in late July.
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The people of Nsukka, which hosts the university, have been agitating for the emergence of an indigene as the substantive vice-chancellor of the institution for the first time since its existence in 1950s.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that a clash of interests among high profile individuals and governments has been frustrating the emergence of the 16th substantive vice-chancellor of the institution.
Since the end of Charles Igwe’s tenure in June 2024 as the 15th vice-chancellor of UNN, the university has had three professors as acting vice-chancellors.
The first was Romanus Ezeokonkwo, who served from June to August 2024: Polycarp Chigbu from August 2024 to February 2025, before Mr Ujam, also a professor, stepped into the cockpit in February 2025.
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