Tunji Alausa, the minister of education, has approved the appointment of Lucian Chukwu, a professor of marine biology, as vice chancellor of the Admiralty University of Nigeria (ADUN), but the school’s registrar, apparently backed by some members of the university council, has announced otherwise.On Saturday, the Ministry of Education communicated the approval of the minister publicly.“In line with the principle of merit being upheld by the federal government, the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr. 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 28th February, 2025,” Boriowo Folasade, the director of press for the ministry, wrote in a statement.READ ALSO: Police Make No Arrest 3 Days After Kazeem Oriade, Gunmen Attacked Osun TownLucian ChukwuHowever, earlier on Friday, Isaac Mankilik, the registrar of the school, had released a statement saying the governing council of the school, by votes of 9 out of 15, declared Bankole Ndubisi Ogbogbo, a professor of African History, VC of the institution.“The Governing Council of Admiralty University of Nigeria (ADUN) today announced the appointment of Professor Bankole Ndubisi Ogbogbo as its substantive Vice-Chancellor. The decision was made at its extraordinary meeting held today, 28th February, 2025 in the University,” Mankilik wrote in a statement published on the university’s Facebook page.“Professor Ogbogbo emerged as the successful candidate after a rigorous selection process, receiving 9 out of 15 votes from the Council members. He was selected from a shortlist of three highly qualified candidates.”Bankole Ndubisi Ogbogbo.Notably, Dele Ezeoba, the pro-chancellor and chairman of the council, was completely opposed to the final selection process that produced Ogbogbo.Ogbogbo could not be reached for comments at press time. However, a man who described himself as his personal assistant answered a phone call by FIJ and said he was resting. The PA declined to mention his name.A call placed across to Chukwu’s phone number copied from his resume rang out and he had not returned the call at press time.THE BACKSTORYThe crisis in the academic institution was preceded by a recruitment scrutiny outsourced by the council to the KPMG, a global human resource firm with presence in Nigeria.A copy schedule of activities for the appointment of a VC issued by the governing council.Responding to newspaper publications of October 7 and November 20 seeking to fill the vacancy in the office of the vice chancellor at the school, 52 candidates submitted applications to the management.For the purpose of ensuring that the process produced a competent candidate for the role, the governing council hired the KPMG. On December 2, all the 52 applications were forwarded to the consulting firm for filtering, due diligence and recommendations on the qualified candidates.A copy schedule of activities for the appointment of a VC issued by the governing council.“Council will recall that, at its 9th Regular Meeting which was held on Thursday, 4th and Friday, 5th October, 2024 respectively, a submission on the appointment of a substantive Vice Chancellor was presented. Given the substantial responsibilities attached to this position, Council believed that, it was imperative for the selection process to be executed with utmost diligence and rigour. This was to guarantee that the selected candidate possesses the requisite qualifications, experience, leadership capabilities, and vision to lead the University into its next phase of development,” a document with reference number ADUN/REG/EGA/UGC/14/25/05 and dated February 8 stated.A copy of the memorandum briefing the council on the appointment of the KPMG to screen the candidates.“To ensure the integrity, transparency and professionalism of the selection process, the Governing Council engaged the services of KPMG, a globally recognized and reputable consulting firm. KPMG’s expertise in recruitment and screening was considered essential to uphold the credibility of the process and ensure that only the most suitable candidates progress to the next stages of evaluation.”Documents obtained by FIJ showed that the KPMG streamlined the applications to “top 5 candidates”, “top 10 candidates”, among others.Upon receiving a report from the KPMG on February 6, the council activated the setting up of a Joint Selection Board, which completed its assignment on February 10. The board was to review the KPMG’s report and further interview the recommended candidates.According the the KPMG, Chukwu, Sunny E. Iyuke, Christopher Ogbogbo, Lawrence Omo-Aghoja, Ijeoma Ifeoma Irene – all professors – were the top five candidates, in order of performance, that emerged from their screening.Between February 24 and 26, the selection board interviewed the candidates in order of shortlist and performance earlier mentioned.From the interview grading procedure, Chukwu scored 83.41%; Iyuke, 60.83%; Ogbogbo, 72.5%; Omo-Aghoja, 59.5%; and Irene, 69.16%.Consequently, the board narrowed its work to.the three best performers: Chukwu, Ogbogbo and Irene.According to a source familiar with the matter who asked not to be named, Chukwu demonstrated the highest level of competence and suitability for the role.Chukwu was naturally expected to clinch the position based on merit. But some members of the council had Ogbogbo as their favourite candidate despite the clear gap between his performance and that of Chukwu.“At that point, the overall best was supposed to be declared winner and the Chairman of Council and Pro Chancellor informed Council members that they should declare Prof. Chukwu winner and the vice chancellor-designate,” the source said.“Unfortunately, some selected members of the council resisted and said they would prefer to go with the candidate that came second, thereby abandoning merit. As a result of that, the council meeting ended in a fiasco because the council chairman did not agree with their action.“On Friday, those selected members convened a kangaroo council meeting without the knowledge of the chairman and declared Prof. Ogbogbo who scored 72.5%, and who came second, as vice chancellor-designate. This is where we are at the moment.”FIJ learnt that the extraordinary meeting mentioned by the registrar and through which they ratified their choice of Ogbogbo was held via Zoom at 12 noon on Friday.READ ALSO: FUOYE Panel Gets Additional 3 Weeks to Present Sexual Harassment Report on VC FasinaThe source expressed confidence that the university would realign itself with the appointment of Chukwu, which was done by the education ministry.It, however, remains to be seen how that will pan out. This is because, the school had not issued another statement recognising the ministry’s decision at press time.FIJ had earlier spoken with the registrar on the phone on Saturday morning; he referred FIJ to the statement he had released on Ogbogbo’s appointment. He did not respond to further calls and text message seeking to know whether he the school still stood by the statement against the decision of the minister.When contacted for comments, the pro-chancellor maintained that the education ministry had appointed the right person for the job and nobody could change that.“The right person has been appointed based on his excellent performance at point of the interview. We must begin to do things properly in this country,” Ezeoba said on the phone.“You cannot bypass somebody who has excelled beyond any reasonable doubt, with a wide margin in terms of performance, without any reason. If we say we must always put our best foot forward, we have to start from somewhere.”The post KPMG’s Choice Lucian Chukwu Outshone 51 Candidates for Admiralty University VC, But Registrar Wants CBN Ogbogbo appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.