Chike Osegbue, one of the seven contenders for the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University vice-chancellorship, has asked the National Industrial Court of Nigeria to declare the appointment of Prof. Kate Omenugha as illegal and void.

Mr Osegbue, in the suit, NICN/ARJ/275/2025, urged the court to declare him the substantive Vice Chancellor of COOU on the grounds that he was the first of the three candidates recommended by the university’s governing council.

Governor Charles Soludo, on August 6, appointed Mr Omenugha as the substantive vice-chancellor of the university.

The selection process was conducted by a joint committee comprising university council and senate representatives, under the chairmanship of Chidi Odinkalu, the pro-chancellor.

Osegbue claimed that the appointment of Mr Omenugha was against the Law of COOU, which provides that the candidate with the highest score should be appointed, or the second or third placed candidates on the recommendation of the council.

In the suit, he stated that the governor’s appointment of Mr. Omenugha was in defiance of Ordinance II (4) (d) and Statute VI (1) of the 1st Schedule to the COOU Law 2014, and was therefore illegal, absurd, arbitrary, condemnable, and wrongful.

Mr Osegbue asked the court to determine whether the governor could exercise such unbridled whimsical and or untrammeled powers to arbitrarily and unlawfully refuse, fail, ignore, and or neglect the recommendation of the council in the appointment of the vice-chancellor.

Osegbue prayed for a declaration that the purported appointment of Omenugha as vice-chancellor was null, void, and of no effect in that it is contrary to and done in violation of Ordinance 11 (4) (d), read together with Statute VI (I) of the I Schedule to COOU Law 2014.

No date has been fixed for the matter.

(NAN)