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GOVERNOR UZODIMMA AIDING ODOH TO DEFY PRESIDENT TINUBU’S DIRECTIVES

By Uche Izuogu

There are strong indications that the governor of Imo, Senator Hope Uzodimma has assured the dismissed Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, in his efforts to defy the orders of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which sacked him from office as Vice-Chancellor.

The Presidential directive which was initially conveyed by the Federal Ministry of Education was further given a boost with a follow-up press statement from the presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, who confirmed the President’s instructions sacking the improperly appointed Vice-Chancellor and Registrar, as well as dissolving the external members of the Governing Found, which was chaired by a known Uzodimma lackey, Ambassador Greg Mbadiwe.

The ousted Vice-Chancellor, Dr Bernard Odoh, who is accused of forging his academic certificates to confer himself with a professorial cadre, among other discrepancies observed in his records is said to have boasted that nobody can remove him as the Vice-Chancellor of the university, describing the President’s directive as “null and void”.

Our correspondents gathered that Odoh is Governor Uzodimma’s surrogate, and the Progressive Governors’ Forum Chairman has assured him that he would sustain him on the seat against all odds.

One of our sources who craved anonymity said that the Imo State governor boasts that he helps the President to execute many shoddy deals and that he gets everything he wants from him without much ado.

“The Vice-Chancellor believes that no one can remove him from office because of the assurances he has gotten from Governor Hope. Hope boasts that he has been the strongest pillar on which the Tinubu presidency is standing and that should he pull away his support from the President, the administration will collapse. So he believes that allowing Odoh to remain the Vice-Chancellor of UNIZIK is the least favour he can get from the President, given his numerous sacrifices to ward off many conspiracies against the President.”

The appointment of Dr. Bernard Odoh as the 7th substantive Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University has generated controversies and thrown the institution on the cusp of major crisis. The Academic Staff Union of Universities has disclaimed the appointment, affirming that Mr. Odoh’s academic credentials are fake as he lacks the requisite qualifications to be appointed as a Vice-Chancellor.