The management of Federal University Oye Ekiti, FUOYE, Ekiti State, Nigeria has declared that there has not been any strife involving the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, and the substantive Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abayomi Sunday Fasina.
The university made the declaration in a press statement made available to FrontPage by the registrar, Mr. Mufutau Ibrahim, through Public Relations Officer, Mr. Foluso Ogunmodede.
The institution said contrary to reports making the rounds, there was no bickering or power struggle “between the university and the Pro-Chancellor, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba on one hand and the substantive Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Fasina on the other as both parties had in no measure contributed immensely to the advancement of the university community.”
The university is said to have leveraged the input by the Pro-Chancellor and other members of the Council including the substantive Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Fasina, to advance the cause of the university.
The university said the report that the vice-chancellor was suspended over alleged manipulation of recruitment and bending rules to favour loyalists was deliberately contrived to embarrass the institution.
The statement reads in part: “The said publication is laced with outright falsehoods and gives not even a shred of evidence to backup all, or any of the weighty allegations that it contains.
“The allegations that the Council Chairman, Distinguished Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba deliberately suppressed staff appeals to Council, including those with genuine case and was engaged in a witch-hunt on the instructions of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina, is not only false but a calculated attempt to further cause confusion and blackmail the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council.
“By all accounts, the Chairman, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba is far older in age to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina and higher in authority.”
It argued that the was inconceivable and ridiculous that a junior person in age and rank would give instructions to the person of a higher rank.
It added: “To confirm the motive of the enemies of the university, the report that Ndoma-Egba and Fasina compiled a preferred list of candidates for key positions including Directors, Deans, Professors and the procurement officer in violation of extant regulations was totally false because the appointments of Deans is by election in various faculties and no recruitment of Professors was done.
“It’s extant in the regulatory rules of the university that the appointments of some non-teaching directors is subject to recommendation by the university management to the Governing Council through the appointments and promotions committee and neither the Pro-Chancellor nor the substantive Vice-Chancellor can manipulate the process.
“In any case, the posting of non-career directors especially that of the Head of Procurement Unit was handled based on existing laws and regulations. The Governing Council being the organ superintending over the finances of the university questioned that the procurement officer, who’s in the middle of some process be allowed some months to conclude them before being changed.
“Moreover, his replacement was to be duly certified by Bureau for Public Procurement and from the procurement cadre. This was not the case in the instant matter…
“We are forced to affirm that such an awful statement impugns and touches sorely on the public reputation of the Governing Council and its leadership.
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“It’s ridiculous to note that the same ‘multiple sources’ that condemned what they termed ‘zero-year’ requirement for the positions of Directors Of Physical Planning and Works and Services are accusing the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council of unilaterally orchestrating a change in the eligibility criteria for Vice-Chancellor by increasing the years of professorship to 10 years.
“They stated that the change was allegedly designed to sideline strong contenders considered threats to Professor Fasina’s preferred candidate.
“It’s pertinent to state that the requirements that candidates for the positions of Directors of Physical Planning, Works and Services should not be below the rank of a Deputy Director instead of spending five years as Deputy Director is to accommodate qualified internal staff to participate in the exercise which does not mean that experience will not be considered while recruiting. It must also be made clear that appointments in such critical departments are widely announced for both internal and external applications.
“Also, the eligibility criteria of 10 years Professorship for the Vice-Chancellor was in line with the Honourable Minister of Education policy statement on the appointment of Vice-Chancellors in Nigeria’s universities. All these were approved after exhaustive deliberations and democratic voting by members at a meeting of the Governing Council.
“The Federal University, Lokoja, a peer of FUOYE, in its recent advertisement for the position of Vice-Chancellor also used 10 years without problem. Ditto for our sister institution, Ekiti State University.
“Council is therefore using this medium to advise those ‘strong contenders’ to apply to those universities using lesser years and stop portraying FUOYE in bad light.
“The allegations of suppression of staff appeals and interference in day-to-day administration are totally false. It will interest the public to note that the same Governing Council being alleged of suppression of staff appeals constituted a peace and reconciliation committee that received over fifty complaints from staff and all of them have been satisfactorily handled. Relevant documents are available to substantiate this.
“We want to state that the Governing Council knows its functions and responsibilities as enshrined in the university Establishment Act and other relevant laws, therefore is not interfering in the day-to-day running of the university.
“It must also be made abundantly clear that the substantive Vice-Chancellor of FUOYE, Professor Abayomi Sunday Fasina has only gone on his accumulated research leave and currently usefully spending it at a university in the United States of America, participating in research.
“The Vice-Chancellor was never suspended as being claimed by Sahara Reporters and certainly not in Nigeria as at the time of the publication….”
