The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has faulted the promotion of Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami, to the rank of a professor.
ASUU President Emmanuel Osodeke described Pantami’s professorship as illegal during a press conference at the University of Lagos (UNILAG)
He said, “You cannot be a minister and a lecturer in a university. It is an encouragement of illegality.
“Pantami has to quit as a minister and be tried for doing double jobs within the same federal system. He is not qualified. Pantami should not be treated as a professor.”
In September 2021, Pantami, alongside seven academics, was elevated by the council of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, to the rank of a professor.
Pantami’s elevation has generated controversy, with many faulting FUTO on the promotion of the minister who was not teaching in the university and whose highest academic attainment was reportedly the position of a lecturer before he ventured into politics.
“We have resolved to sanction ASUU members involved in his promotion and the VC of FUTO,” Osodeke added.
Isa Ali Ibrahim (born October 20 1972), commonly known as Isa Ali Pantami, is an Islamic cleric who is the current Minister of Communications and Digital Economy in Nigeria.
Pantami lectured at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) before joining the Islamic University of Madinah as Head of Technical Writing in 2014.
He was the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) from September 26, 2016 to August 20, 2019, when he was nominated as a minister and sworn into office on August 21, 2019.