The controversial appointment of Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, as a professor of Cybersecurity by the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), has been ratified by the university’s branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
This followed a report of a panel constituted and inaugurated by FUTO chapter of ASUU at its congress on September 22, 2021 to investigate Pantami’s appointment.
Members of the committee were Prof. M. S. Nwakaudu (Chairman), Prof. G.A. Anyanwu, Prof. C. E. Orji, Prof. (Mrs.) O.P. Onyewuchi and Prof. T. I. N. Ezejiofor (member/Secretary).
The panel, which unveiled the criteria used for professorship appointments in the institution, said due process was followed on the recruitment of Pantami as a professor of Cybersecurity.
It, therefore, recommended that the management should take measures to protect the integrity of the university by taking steps to correct some misrepresentations against the appointment as well as institute legal action against those who attempted to stain the reputation of the university over the appointment.
“From our findings and evidence before the panel, members are of the opinion that the appointment of Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami as a professor of Cybersecurity by the FUTO Governing Council followed due process.
“The panel strongly recommends that the university management should as a matter of urgency take appropriate actions, including legal action, against those who deliberately tried to drag the image and reputation of FUTO to the mud,” the panel said.
