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A high-stakes legal confrontation has erupted at the heart of Nigeria’s academic establishment, as Professor M. Mukhtar, a seasoned scholar and former Vice-Chancellor candidate at Alqalam University, Katsina, has filed a lawsuit against the Honourable Minister of Education and the immediate past Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Professor Oguejiofor T. Ujam.

The suit, now before the Federal High Court in Abuja, alleges a fundamental breach of mandate and procedural misconduct in the appointment process of a substantive Vice Chancellor for UNN—one of Nigeria’s most prestigious federal universities.

The legal action, initiated through the chambers of T. J. Aondo SAN & Co., stems from what Professor Mukhtar describes as a deliberate failure by Professor Ujam to fulfill the core responsibilities of his interim appointment.

According to the originating summons and a preceding pre-action notice dated June 25, 2025, the Acting Vice Chancellor was appointed on February 7, 2025, with a clear and non-renewable six-month mandate beginning February 10. His primary task: to oversee a transparent, credible, and time-bound process for selecting a substantive Vice Chancellor.

However, the suit contends that more than four months into his tenure, Professor Ujam had not initiated any of the statutory steps required for the selection process.

Instead, he allegedly diverted attention to unrelated administrative activities, including staff recruitment, while the Vice Chancellor selection process remained dormant. This inaction, the plaintiff argues, not only violated the terms of his appointment but also contravened the Ministry of Education’s April 2025 directive, which strictly prohibits extensions of acting tenures for heads of federal tertiary institutions.

Professor Mukhtar, a respected academic with over twenty-five years of service in Nigeria’s university system and international experience as a visiting and external examiner, expressed deep disappointment over the stagnation.

Through his counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Terkaa J. Aondo, he emphasized that the process for appointing a Vice Chancellor is meticulously outlined in the University of Nigeria Act and related regulations. It begins with a public advertisement of the vacancy, followed by the constitution of a search team, and culminates in the formation of a selection committee that screens candidates and recommends three finalists to the Governing Council.

The entire process spans approximately three months, making the delay all the more alarming given that Professor Ujam’s tenure is set to expire on August 10, 2025. The plaintiff’s legal team argues that the Acting Vice Chancellor’s failure to initiate this process within the allotted timeframe was not an oversight but a calculated attempt to justify an unlawful extension of his tenure.

Adding to the controversy is the alleged attempt by the Acting Vice Chancellor and the current Governing Council to revive a previously invalidated selection process. That process, initiated by the now-dissolved Governing Council via an advertisement published on October 11, 2024, was reportedly marred by procedural flaws and subsequently cancelled by the Ministry of Education.

Professor Mukhtar’s counsel warns that any reliance on that expired advertisement or its associated candidate list would constitute a gross violation of both legal standards and the terms of Professor Ujam’s appointment.

The pre-action notice delivered to Professor Ujam and copied to the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Engr. Dr. Kayode Ojo, was unequivocal. It demanded immediate corrective action and threatened legal proceedings if the Acting Vice Chancellor failed to initiate a fresh, lawful selection process within seven days. When no such action was taken, the lawsuit was filed, naming the Minister of Education as the first defendant and Professor Ujam as the second.

The suit seeks judicial clarification on several critical issues. Among them: whether the Acting Vice Chancellor is legally obligated to conclude the selection process before his tenure ends; whether his failure to do so invalidates his appointment; and whether the expired October 2024 advertisement can be lawfully used to select a new Vice Chancellor. It also questions whether the remaining time before August 10 is sufficient to conduct the full statutory process, as outlined in Section 4(2)(a) and (b) of the First Schedule to the UNN Act.

Professor Mukhtar is requesting a series of declaratory reliefs, including a formal declaration that Professor Ujam’s tenure must end on August 10, that he is ineligible to contest for the substantive position, and that only a fresh, legally compliant process can produce a valid list of candidates.

He also seeks an order compelling the Minister of Education to relieve Professor Ujam of his duties and a perpetual injunction preventing the defendants from conducting any selection process during the Acting Vice Chancellor’s tenure.

The implications of this legal battle extend far beyond the personal ambitions of Professor Mukhtar. At stake is the integrity of leadership transitions within Nigeria’s federal tertiary institutions and the credibility of the Ministry of Education’s oversight mechanisms.

The outcome of the case could set a powerful precedent for how acting appointments are managed across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education nationwide.

As the Federal High Court in Abuja prepares to hear the matter, tension continues to mount within the University of Nigeria community. With less than a month remaining before the expiration of Professor Ujam’s acting tenure, uncertainty looms over the future of the institution’s leadership. The plaintiff’s legal team remains confident, asserting that the “kangaroo process” will be struck down by the court.

In the coming weeks, the judiciary will be called upon to determine whether UNN’s governance will be restored to lawful order or whether the university will plunge deeper into administrative disarray. For now, the academic world watches closely, as the battle for transparency, accountability, and institutional integrity unfolds in the courtroom.