THE Federal Government on Saturday, March 1, approved the appointment of Lucian Chukwu as the substantive vice chancellor (VC) of Admiralty University of Nigeria (ADUN), Ibuzor, Delta State, after the confusion and controversy that trailed the selection.
The announcement was made by the Director of Press, Ministry of Education, Folasade Boriowo, in a statement on Saturday, March 1.
Boriowo noted that the Governing Council of the university conducted the selection exercise for the appointment of a substantive vice chancellor on February 26 and 27.
At the end of the exercise, Chukwu emerged first with the highest score of 83.41 per cent among the five interviewed candidates.
“In line with the principle of merit being upheld by the Federal Government, the Minister of Education, Maruf Tunji Alausa, has approved the appointment of Professor Lucian O. Chukwu as the substantive Vice-Chancellor of Admiralty University, Ibuzor.
“The appointment is for a single tenure of five years with effect from February 28, 2025,” Boriowo stated.
Intrigues, power play that ensued
The Admiralty University, which is owned by the Nigerian Navy and based in Delta State, had recently been enmeshed in a crisis following the process of selecting a new VC.
The process was mired in controversies due to intrigues and vested interests, which some stakeholders in the sector have described as an attempt to ditch merit in the selection process.
The ICIR’s findings revealed that the university posted a job advertisement for vice chancellor on October 7, 2024, and by the deadline, 52 candidates had applied.
To get the most qualified candidate for the role, the services of KPMG, a globally renowned management consultancy firm, were sought by the university for the recruitment and selection of the best among the candidates.
According to the information gathered, KPMG completed the task by February 5, 2025, and handed the report to the management through the Registrar on February 6, 2025.
Thereafter, the Joint Selection Board (JSB) was constituted, and the report from KPMG was reviewed.
The joint selection committee members included a former Chief of Naval Staff, Dele Joseph Ezeoba; a retired Rear Admiral, A. Ogunleye; a representative of the Federal Ministry of Education in the council, Mary Omokhomion; a representative of the Federal Character Commission who was there to observe the process, Moses Anaughe; and the university’s registrar, Isaac Mankilik.
Others are the acting VC of the university, Dili Ofuokwu, a professor; Emmanuel Okwechime; GSM Aligwe, a Rear Admiral; and O.A. Odiansiye, a captain.
According to a document obtained by The ICIR titled “Notice of Meeting for the 2nd Extra-Ordinary Meeting of The Governing Council for the Consideration of Report of the Joint Selection Board On the Appointment of a Substantive Vice Chancellor for the Admiralty University of Nigeria” dated Wednesday, February 26, 2025, the first candidate based on the scoring of KPMG was Chukwu, a professor of Marine Biology and current deputy vice chancellor (Management Services) at the University of Lagos.
Apart from Chukwu, the other four candidates that were shortlisted after the interview were Lawrence Omo-Aghoja, Provost of the College of Medicine, Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka; Ifeoma Ijeh, a professor of Biochemistry and director of the Centre for Molecular Bioscience and Biotechnology at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State; Christopher Bankole Ndubisi Ogbogbo, a professor of history; and Sunny Iyuke, a professor of Chemical and Process Engineering and Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Delta State.
At the end of the interview by the Joint Selection Board, the Council was collapsed into its whole for members to consider the report of the interview. At the end, the candidates’ score were reported as follows:
Lucian Obinnaya Chukwu: 83.41 per cent: Sunny E. Iyuke: 60.83 per cent; Christopher Ogbogbo: 72.5 per cent; Lawrence Omo-Aghoja: 59.5 per cent; Ijeoma Ifeoma Irene: 69.16 per cent.
Accordingly, three candidates were shortlisted in the order of their performance. They are: Lucian Obinnaya Chukwu: 83.41 per cent; Christopher Ogbogbo: 72.5 per cent, and Ifeoma Irene Ijeoma: 69.16 per cent.
At this point, the overall best was supposed to be declared winner, but the larger members of the Selection Committee insisted on picking Ogbogbo, who came in second in the recruitment process.
According to sources, this led to a fracas at the council meeting, with the council chairman, Ezeoba, insisting that the best candidate in the recruitment process be picked. He reportedly disagreed with the decision that Ogbogbo, who came second, be presented as the new VC.
The council chairman, Ezeoba, later informed the Education Minister Tunji Alausa about the situation, and the minister reportedly ordered a report to be filed, promising that the ministry would take necessary action.
But in a dramatic twist, the institution, in a statement released on Friday, February 28 and signed by the Registrar Isaac Mankilik, announced the appointment of Ogbogbo, who came second in the recruitment process, as the substantive VC.
This reportedly occurred when the chairman of the council, Ezeoba, and some other members were outside the university.
In their absence, a few members of the council convened a meeting, which it tagged an “extraordinary meeting,” and announced the appointment of Ogbogbo as the institution’s substantive vice chancellor.
But, in the statement released on Saturday, the Federal Government, through the Minister of Education, rescinded the decision and appointed Chukwu, who came in first at the interview, as the substantive VC of the institution.
Attempts by The ICIR to speak to the Registrar of ADUN, Mankilik, on the controversy were unsuccessful, as he did not pick up his call nor respond to messages sent to his phone.
A reporter with the ICIR
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