The Federal Government has directed all the outgoing vice chancellors in federal universities to nominate a Deputy Vice Chancellor to temporarily serve as acting vice chancellor of their respective institutions pending the process of appointing a substantive Vice-Chancellor.

The directive was conveyed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in a circular to the outgoing vice chancellors, which was dated May 28, 2024, and made available to journalists on Wednesday.

The document, signed by the acting Executive Secretary of NUC, Chris Maiyaki, said the move was prompted by a directive from the Federal Ministry of Education, which duly notified the Commission on the tenure expiration of some vice chancellors.

Maiyaki said that the appointment of the acting vice chancellors should be done through the recommendations of the Universities' Senates, adding that the soon-to-be inaugurated Governing Councils of the universities will appoint acting vice chancellors for a specific period after their inauguration and thereafter commence selection process for substantive VCs in their respective institutions.

The letter reads in parts; "I write, further to previous communication Ref. No. NUC/ES/138/Vol. 65/88 and dated 27 May 2024, to convey the directive of the Federal Ministry of Education, vide its letter Ref. No. FME/TE/CỰ/130/T6/458 and dated 28 May 2024 (copy attached), to the effect that Vice-Chancellors of Federal Universities, who are rounding up their tenures, are to nominate, through the recommendation of their Senates, a Deputy Vice-Chancellor that will oversee the office of the Vice-Chancellor in a temporary capacity.

"The Governing Councils, after their inauguration, will appoint Acting Vice-Chancellors for a period not less than 6 months, during which they will commence the process of appointing substantive Vice-Chancellors.

"This circular takes pre-eminence over our earlier communication on the same subject," it added.