FCET Crisis: Governing council directs provost to “step aside,” appoints replacement

The Governing Council of the Federal College of Education, Technical (FCET) has announced the appointment of Isaac Miller as the acting provost of the institution.

In an internal memo on Wednesday referencing FCE/T/AK/RO/IM/2/206 and signed by the Registrar of the College, Rasheed Dada, the council said Wahab Azeez should “step down” as the provost effective 31 July.

This is in reaction to the crisis in the college that has lingered for over three months and degenerated into violence on Monday when some workers and students reportedly attacked the Chairman of the Governing Council, Olatunde Adenuga, and other council members, vandalising cars and properties.

The Lagos State Police Command also confirmed the arrest of 32 persons in connection with the violence.

“This is to inform the College Community that at the inaugural meeting of the 8th Governing Council of the College on Tuesday, 30 July 2024, the Council directed that Wahab Ademola Azeez should step aside from office as the Provost of the College with effect from 31 July 2024, the statement reads in part.

“Sequel to the above, the Council at the same meeting unanimously resolved to appoint Dr. Isaac Oluwatoyin Miller as the Acting Provost with immediate effect.”

Backstory

Some protesting unions on the campus since 27 May locked up the office of the Provost of the College, Wahab Azeez, and issued him a notice to quit his official residence over his tenure of office.

The protest was organised by the leadership of the Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education (SSUCOEN), FCET chapter, and other unions under the umbrella of “concerned staff.”

The protesters insisted that with the amendment of the Educational Colleges Act 2023, which introduced a five-year single term of office for provosts and other principal officers of the colleges, the tenure of Mr Azeez had ended on 26 May.

However, the provost said he was appointed for the first term of four years in 2019 and that having been duly reappointed by the institution’s governing council in 2023, he already resumed his second term in office on 27 May 2023 before the amended act was signed into law on 12 June 2023.

Following letters by the unions seeking clarification on the tenure of office of the provost based on the amended act, the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, wrote the unions, affirming the legality of Mr Azeez’s second term of four years.

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The protesters ignored the minister’s verdict and continued to stage daily protests on the campus, denying management members access to their offices.

Mr Mamman, represented by the Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, subsequently met with the warring parties in Abuja, and resolutions were made.

Resolutions

Despite signing resolutions reached at a reconciliatory meeting chaired by Mr Sununu, some workers of FCET continued to threaten a showdown should Mr Azeez return to the office.

The resolutions signed by the representatives of the ministry, the governing council, and the staff unions included the reopening of the office of the college’s provost and his return to the office.

The meeting ordered an end to the prolonged protest by the workers, and the governing council chaired by Olatunde Adenuga was asked to meet with them to address the issues.

The meeting also mandated the new council to investigate the concerns raised by the staff, including the alleged misappropriation of funds reportedly approved for the college’s fencing and the appointment of the college’s bursar.