For the first time since his removal as the Chairman of the Governing Council of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), Prof. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu has taken to his X handle to speak about the leadership dispute in the institution.
Odinkalu was recently removed and replaced as chairman of the council, with Governor Chukwuma Soludo charging the new chairman, Prof. Peter Onwughalu, on proactiveness, a statement which many said inferred ineptitude on the part of the Odinkalu-led council.
The recent appointment of Prof. Kate Omenugha by Governor Soludo has been a subject of litigation, with one of those involved already challenging the action at the National Industrial Court.
But Odinkalu, while reacting to a piece by the Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor, accused the Anambra State Government and the university management of colluding to undermine the ongoing legal challenge over the appointment of the institution’s Vice-Chancellor.
Odinkalu, a former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission and a legal scholar, said issues raised recently by the Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor, regarding his tenure as Chairman of the university’s Governing Council were already the subject of litigation before the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN).
He said: “I’m one of the defendants in the suit, alongside Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo, the state’s Attorney-General, the university and its Governing Council.
“After entering appearance in the matter, the state government and university authorities procured a judgment from an Anambra State High Court in Otuocha in a manner designed to circumvent the proceedings already pending before the National Industrial Court.
“The State High Court knows the matter is not one over which it has jurisdiction,” Odinkalu said, questioning both the competence and speed with which the case was determined.
He further alleged that the suit was filed on September 15, 2025, and judgment delivered on September 26, 2025 — a period he described as unusually swift.
“The judgment could not have been more favourable if it was written by a party to the proceedings,” he stated.
Odinkalu said the development convinced him that he was facing an uneven contest but declined to elaborate further, citing respect for the ongoing judicial process.
As of press time, the Anambra State Government and the management of COOU had not officially responded to Odinkalu’s allegations.
David-Chyddy Eleke
