Elections: VCs, ASUU Disagree As Nigerian Government Shuts Universities

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has condemned the directive of the National Universities Commissions to the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities that universities should be shut to enable students to participate in the forthcoming general elections.

The NUC gave the directive in a letter on Tuesday addressed to vice-chancellors of all universities and Directors of Inter-university Centres.

The commission noted that the directive was based on the instruction of the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu.

He said, “Vice-Chancellors do not have the right to close universities. It is purely the prerogative of the universities’ Senates to either open or close universities.

“Things have gone so bad in this country that they are citing security and for this reason, we, as a union, had to look on. In all the past elections, have we ever closed the universities, polytechnics? So, what has gone wrong? Why the desperation? Why are they punishing Nigerians? We need to ask Nigerian leaders questions because we are trying to meet up with lost time and here you are shutting down universities.”

But the Secretary-General, CVCNU, Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, disagreed with the ASUU President, saying Nigeria had always closed universities during elections.

He said, “It is nothing new, most public universities get closed during elections because many of them housed polling units and universities and their communities always vote on campuses.

“Two reasons why universities are shut down during elections are so as not to disenfranchise the people and to give opportunity to those who registered away from the university to be able to vote. It is something universities have been doing as far as I can remember; so this is not new.

“The directive is coming from our regulatory body, NUC; it is for universities to see how they can manage it and it is the VCs that will internalise it.”

-Punch