The Federal Government of Nigeria has mandated that acting Vice-Chancellors, Rectors, and Provosts must resign from their current positions before applying for permanent leadership roles in their institutions.
This directive, issued in a circular dated April 8, 2025, aims to ensure fairness and transparency in appointments by preventing acting officeholders from leveraging their positions for an advantage.
Under the new rule, acting heads must step down before their non-renewable six-month tenure ends to be eligible for substantive roles.
The policy addresses concerns over irregularities in recent appointments, such as allegations of favoritism and credential discrepancies at universities like UNIZIK and UNIABUJA, which led to the dissolution of their governing councils by President Tinubu.
The directive also reinforces existing 2013 Federal Guidelines and requires strict compliance from governing councils and stakeholders to promote merit-based selections.
Discussion about this post