Professor Abdulganiyu Ambali became the ninth vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin in October 2012 following the expiration of the five-year tenure of Professor Is'haq Oloyede. His appointment was challenged by a co-contestant, Professor Rasheed Ijaodola. In this piece, AROWONA ABDULAZEEZ x-rays the situation and the position of the court.

The five years tenure of Professor Is'haq Oloyede as the vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin came to an end on October 15 2012, a factor which lunched Professor Abdulganiyu Ambali into the hall of fame as the current VC of the institution.

A professor of Veterinary Medicine, Ambali was sworn-in amidst mammoth crowd who attended the coincidental press conference which predates the 28th convocation ceremony of the institution aimed at giving an account of the stewardship of the outgoing administration which later turned to the immediate handing over to the incoming administration after an accurate account by the former.

Although, no fewer than 20 professors from both within and outside the University of Ilorin had earlier indicated interest in becoming the VC after which the veterinarian coasted home to victory, having been declared the most suitable candidate for the seat with the approval of the visitor to the university and president of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

The immediate past VC, Prof Is-haq Oloyede reflected on the dusts that trailed the selection of the new VC and said it was natural to struggle for such exalted seat.

He maintained that the appointment of Ambali as his successor was the least problematic transition in the annals of the university.

Oloyede said: "It is in human to struggle, but when it becomes inordinate, it is abnormal. I think this transition is the least problematic one in the history of the University of Ilorin.

"When the council came up with his (Ambali's) appointment, I expected more problems. It is normal to see people grieving. It is those who are not qualified that make noise.

"There was no success without a successor. The new VC is a robust scholar of international standard; I urge members of the university community to support him."

Oloyede described his successor who was the immediate past dean, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, as a man that is duly qualified to take the University of Ilorin higher. He equally described Ambali as "a cosmopolitan personality with a vast and varied academic background, I believe the council did not err in appointing him to succeed me."

He however appealed to the members of the university community and the entire public to support and cooperate with him, stressing that "yesterday it was Oloyede; today it is Ambali; tomorrow it will be someone else, anyone of us."

While extending his hands of fellowship to other academics who lost out in the tussle, Ambali in his acceptance speech pledged to adopt the philosophy of sustainable human and material resources development.

He also identified sustainable development as very critical in the day to day governance of any society, adding that there could not be true development without sustainability.

He words: "I want to stress that the administrative philosophy upon which the leadership of the university will be based during my tenure is sustainable (human and material resources) development.

"In due course, I hope to fully espouse what this philosophy entails. But it suffices to say that one of the major challenges in our country today is ability to sustain the strength and avoid the weakness of the previous administrations.

"Without prejudice to the leaders of yester-years, the university has grown in meteoric terms in recent years, both in academic and infrastructure. Therefore, we cannot afford to retrogress in any way."

The VC further stressed that, "I know that if we maintain what is on ground, it will be easier and cheaper to take the university to the next level of academic excellence. That is why in development studies, sustainable development is considered central because there is no true development without sustainability.

"Together we shall maintain the legacy of excellence and sustain our drive towards reaching the pinnacle of institutional greatness. Together, we shall make the university attain loftier heights".

The new VC also promised to work with those who slugged it out with him during the contest for the plum job, saying that his administration would extend hands of fellowship to all those concerned about the growth of the institution.

He urged the stakeholders within and outside the university to put the interest of the institution above personal interest.

"Many of the contestants for the position of the vice chancellor are as qualified as I am to head this university because of their wealth of experience, but it is natural that there must be a single vice chancellor at a time.

"I take it as Allah's wish that I would be the ninth vice chancellor of this university at this auspicious moment in 2012.

"I extend hands of fellowship to all those who are truly concerned about the growth of this university to let us continue to build it further. It takes a broom to sweep clean, not a single broomstick", he added.

While eulogising his predecessor, Professor Ambali described him as an outstanding achiever and promised not derailed in his legacies which lunched the institution among league of world best universities.

Meanwhile, in protest of the appointment of Ambali as the VC of the institution, one of the contestant and professor of Law currently at the Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, Rasheed Ijaodola approached a Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, with a suit.

In his reliefs, Prof Ijaodola sought an order of injunction restraining President Goodluck Jonathan, the Minister of Education and the executive secretary of the National Universities Commission, NUC, from recognising Prof Ambali as the vice chancellor.

Other reliefs the plaintiff sought include an order restraining the former vice chancellor, Prof Is-haq Oloyede, from recognising Prof Ambali as the new vice chancellor; a declaration that the short-listing, selection and appointment of Prof Ambali as the new vice chancellor of the university were irregular, improper, unlawful, null and void; a declaration that the interview conducted by a board chaired by Alhaji Saka Sa'adu is irregular, improper, wrongful, unlawful, null and void.

Consequently, the court on Monday, June 24, affirmed the constitutionality of the appointment of Prof Ambali as the vice chancellor of the university and dismissed the suit filed by Prof Ijaodola.

Justice Olayinka Faji endorsed the selection of Ambali by the Governing Council of the university, declaring that the appointment was valid and to that extent lawful contrary to the arguments of the plaintiff.

He therefore dismissed the plaintiff's claims as lacking in merit, saying it "is accordingly hereby dismissed."

Meanwhile, Ijaodola has appealed the verdict of the court. In the notice of appeal filed at the Court of Appeal, Ilorin division between Ijaodola and Unilorin Governing Council and 17 other defendants, the contestant argued, among others, that the trial judge erred in law "in holding that the council of Unilorin followed due process in short-listing, selecting and filling of the vacancy of the post of the vice-chancellor of Unilorin".

The appellant also joined other contestants for the post as defendants in the appeal even though their names were struck out by Justice Faaji, who in the June verdict described Ijaodola as a busy-body for joining other contestants as defendants/respondents in the suit.

He prayed the court to set aside the lower court's judgement and grant all his reliefs and to stop Professor Ambali from parading himself as the VC of UNILORIN, though; no date has been fixed for hearing.

Can the Appeal Court overrule the verdict of the trial court going by the intimidating credentials of Professor Ambali whose tenure has received overwhelming supports from the University community going by the growth and sustainable development witnessed in less than one year of his leadership or what will it say?