Former Chairman of the Governing Council of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Prof. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, has accused the Anambra State Government and the management of the institution of allegedly colluding to undermine ongoing legal proceedings over the appointment of Prof. Kate Azuka Omenugha as Vice-Chancellor of the university.
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Odinkalu, a former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission and legal scholar, made the allegation in a post on his X handle while reacting to comments attributed to the Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor, concerning his tenure as chairman of the university’s governing council.
His reaction comes for the first time since his removal as Chairman of the COOU Governing Council and subsequent replacement by Governor Chukwuma Soludo with Prof. Peter Onwughalu.
At the time of Onwughalu’s appointment, Soludo had reportedly charged the new council chairman to be proactive, a remark some observers interpreted as a veiled criticism of the Odinkalu-led council.
The appointment of Prof. Omenugha as Vice-Chancellor has remained a subject of litigation, with one of the parties already challenging the process before the National Industrial Court of Nigeria.
Odinkalu said the issues raised by Mefor were already before the NICN, adding that he is one of the named defendants in the suit alongside Governor Soludo, the Anambra State Attorney-General, the university and its Governing Council.
“To be fair, Law Mefor did not make any direct imputations on my character. He did, however, make claims containing opinions about my time as Chair of the Governing Council of COOU,” Odinkalu wrote.
“I should make clear that those issues are currently the subject of legal proceedings before the National Industrial Court of Nigeria in which I am a named defendant.
“Other defendants in the proceedings include the Governor, his Attorney-General, the University and its Governing Council. Unlike Law Mefor and his paymasters, I have been a lawyer in Nigeria long enough to know what that means.”
Odinkalu alleged that after the NICN proceedings began in August 2025, the Anambra State Government and the university management “manifestly colluded” to obtain a judgment from the Anambra State High Court in Otuocha on issues already before the National Industrial Court.
According to him, the Otuocha case was filed on September 15, 2025, and judgment delivered on September 26, 2025, within what he described as “seven working days or 10 days in all.”
“For the record, those proceedings began in the middle of August 2025. After entering appearance, the Anambra State Government manifestly colluded with the university management to procure a judgment from the High Court of Anambra State in Otuocha purporting to end-run the issues in dispute before the NICN,” he alleged.
He further claimed that the plaintiff in the Otuocha matter did not apply to be Vice-Chancellor and had no claim in the process.
“The plaintiff in Otuocha did not apply to be VC and had no claim in the process. The State High Court knows the matter is not one over which it has jurisdiction. If the judge did not know that, he has no business being a judge,” Odinkalu stated.
The former council chairman added that the speed and outcome of the judgment made him realise that he was “unequally yoked.”
“They filed the case 15 Sept 2025. The following week, on 26 Sept, the young judge rendered a judgment that could not have been more favourable if it was written by a party to the proceedings. It took all of 7 working days or 10 days in all.
“At that point, the reality crystallized for me — in case I was in any doubt before — that I was unequally yoked. I will not say more at this time. There are levels of desperation that I am unwilling to countenance,” he said.
Odinkalu said he would refrain from further comments because of the pending proceedings before the NICN, but added that he would respond more fully at the appropriate time.
“Unlike Law Mefor and his paymasters, I have a duty to respect the legal and judicial process now before the NICN. In my own time and on my own terms, I will address very fully the knaveries of these grasping natives of Lilliput,” he wrote.
The controversy follows the judgment of the High Court of Anambra State, sitting in the Otuocha Judicial Division, which confirmed the appointment of Prof. Kate Azuka Omenugha as Vice-Chancellor of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Tagbo Anieto on September 26, 2025, in Suit No. OT/301/2025 filed by Prof. Nneka Rita Nnorom against Prof. Omenugha, COOU, the Governor of Anambra State and the Attorney-General of the state.
Prof. Nnorom, a professor in the Science Education Department, Faculty of Education of the university at the Igbariam Campus, had commenced the action by originating summons.
The court held that the defendants were served with the originating summons and hearing notices, while the university, listed as the second defendant, entered appearance and challenged the suit through counsel.
In its decision, the court held that the appointment of Prof. Omenugha as Vice-Chancellor was done in full compliance with Section 38 of the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Law, 2014.
Justice Anieto confirmed Omenugha’s appointment as Vice-Chancellor and described the confirmation as “total, absolute, undivided, unblemished, complete, decisive and final.”
The court consequently held that the suit succeeded in its entirety and granted the reliefs sought by the plaintiff in the originating summons.
It also ordered members, staff, officers, bodies and organs of the university to desist from any act capable of impeding the duties, functions and office of Prof. Omenugha as the confirmed Vice-Chancellor of the institution.
The court made no order as to costs.
Counsel listed in the judgment included K.E. Onyekaa, Esq., for the plaintiff; C.P. Ilodigwe-Nnabugwu, Esq., for the second defendant and also holding brief for counsel to the first defendant; and L.E. Nwangwu, DDPP, with Uchenna Ekwerekwu, Esq., ACSC, for the third and fourth defendants.
Odinkalu’s latest comments have now deepened the controversy surrounding the vice-chancellorship dispute, the removal of the former governing council leadership and the competing legal positions on the validity of Omenugha’s appointment.
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