The management made the assertion in a press statement by the university’s Registrar, Mr. Mufutau Ibrahim, through the Public Relations Officer, Mr. Foluso Ogunmodede.

Odunjo was said to have petitioned the Minister of Education, Dr. Mauruf Olatunji Alausa over alleged “gross governance failure and deep-rooted financial mismanagement in the university.”

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Reacting, the management said Odunjo was not qualified to report the Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba-led governing council on behalf of the members of staff, having been dismissed.

The management said Odunjo was dismissed from FUOYE in February this year.

The statement reads in part: “He has been dismissed from the university on the grounds of serious misconduct in February 2025.”

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It said contrary to the report making the rounds, Ndoma-Egba had no undue interference in the day-to-day running of the university except matters brought before him and the Council by the university management.

The defence by the institution is contained in press statement by the university’s Registrar, Mr. Mufutau Ibrahim, through its spokesman, Mr. Foluso Ogunmodede.

He said the allegations of “financial recklessness, abuse of power, hijacking the day-to-day running of the university and approving the purchasing of building outside the university at a staggering cost of N900millions were fictitious, unfounded, and baseless.”

He said while the university was handling issues of delayed salary and the relocation allowances, the management also dismissed issue of approval of N128 million for the Vice-Chancellor’s leave allowance, describing it as lies from the pit of hell.

Also, on the issue of Council “to approve N900million for the purchase of a building outside the university campus,” the university management said the claim far  from the truth.

He said the university was on course without any distractions.

“We will remain undeterred and unwavering in our resolve to steer the university to greater heights regardless of any attack by purveyors of fake news,” it added.

Besides, it dismissed the allegations of “abuse of power, hijacking the day-to-day administration and approving the purchase of building outside the university at a staggering cost of #900millions,” as untrue.

According to him, there was no basis for such as the management of the university had repositioned the ivory tower for optimal progress ahead of the 2024/2025 academic session.

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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….”

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Speaking on behalf of the institution, Public Relations Officer, Mr. Foluso Ogunmodede, dismissed the allegations, describing them as false and an attempt to tarnish the university’s reputation.

According to him, the university never engaged in any exploitation of students or unauthorized deductions from the disbursed loans.

FUOYE was listed among over 50 institutions accused by NELFUND and the National Orientation Agency, NOA, of making illegal deductions from students’ institutional fees—ranging from ₦3,500 to ₦30,000—after receiving government funds.

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The agencies accused the institutions of deceptive practices and withholding disbursement records.

But Ogunmodede refuted the allegations, stating that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, had not traced any illegal NELFUND payments to the university’s accounts.

According to him, every financial procedure must be properly followed before any payments or refunds would be made.

He said: “Once the payment enters our account and is reconciled with the list of beneficiaries, we will begin refunds immediately even as none of our fees structure is N124k. The allegation is false and nobody has contacted us.”

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The Public Relations Officer of FUOYE, Mr. Folusho Ogunmodede, made this known in a press statement he made available to FrontPage on Tuesday.

He said the council described the allegation against the Vice-Chancellor as lacking in merit.

The spokesperson said besides, the council came hard on Engr. Adebayo for dragging the university’s name into disrepute with the allegation, compelling her to tender an unreserved apology to the Council within seven days.

The PRO quoted that Council as having said that “There was no case of sexual harassment thus confirming the earlier investigation by the Nigeria Police Force during which investigation Engr. Adebayo had made a statement that she was not sexually harassed.

“All documents relied on in the investigation by the committee were attached to the report (NPF report, audio, their transcripts, correspondences by the Vice-Chancellor and Engr. Adebayo, minutes of management meetings etc).

“Council condemned the recording of the Vice-Chancellor without his knowledge and consent. All members of council agreed that the recordings were tools for blackmail to confirm Engr. Adebayo as substantive director of works which the Vice-Chancellor has no authority to do.

“Council noted that Engr. Folashade Adebayo never made any complaint of sexual harassment against the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abayomi Sunday Fasina however.

“Council directed that Engr. Adebayo be warned for bringing the name of the University into disrepute.

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“She is also directed to write a letter of apology to the Council within seven days.”

Meanwhile, the Council also considered the case of chairman SSANU-FUOYE branch, Mr. Benjamin Faleye and Mrs Ayomikun Aluko and gave a verdict that they were found culpable of gross misconduct.

The duo were asked to write letters of apology to the Council within seven days.

It would be recalled that FUOYE began a probe of its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abayomi Fasina, over alleged sexual harassment in January.

According to the Registrar and Secretary to Council, Mufutau A. Ibrahim, in a press statement, the decision to probe followed a number of published audio tapes alleging sexual harassment of a deputy director of works in the university, Engr. (Mrs) Folashade Adebayo, by the Vice-Chancellor.

Against the backdrop of the negative effect of the negative report on the university, the council said it was necessary to carry out a probe.

To that effect, a nine member committee was set up.

The committee was directed to investigate the source of the viral audios recording alleging the immoral moves by the Vice-Chancellor and the purchase of the positions of the Bursar and Registrar and investigate the motive behind the recording and how the recording gained currency in the social media.

The committee was also directed to investigate the allegations of Engr. Adebayo, particularly the allegation of immoral advances against the Vice-Chancellor as well as review all previous actions and efforts by the police, the immediate-past chairman of Council and others at unravelling the allegations made by Adebayo against the Vice-Chancellor.

The committee was also to investigate any other matter relating to the allegations.

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The assurance was given in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Public Relations Officer of the university, Mr. Folusho Ogunmodede.

He therefore called on stakeholders not to interfere in the probe, stressing that the university had zero-tolerance for sexual harassment.

The statement reads in part:

“The Governing Council of FUOYE under Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN, remains unwavering in its zero-tolerance stance on sexual harassment and misconduct.

“We urge all stakeholders to allow due process to take its course and refrain from interference, speculation, or misinformation over alleged sexual harassment involving the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Fasina.

“FUOYE remains committed to safeguarding the rights and wellbeing of its academic community while upholding the highest ethical standards.

“FUOYE assures students, staff, and stakeholders that the university will continue to provide a safe, inclusive, and supportive learning environment.”

It would be recalled that the council, on January 20, begun a probe of the alleged case of sexual harassment against the vice-chancellor.

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According to the Registrar and Secretary to Council, Mufutau A. Ibrahim, in a press statement, the decision to probe followed a number of published audio tapes alleging sexual harassment of a deputy director of works in the university, Engr. (Mrs) Folashade Adebayo, by the vice-chancellor.

A nine member committee was set up and given three weeks to get to the root of the matter and report to the council.

The probe committee was directed to investigate the source of the viral audio recording alleging the immoral moves by the vice-chancellor and the purchase of the positions of the Bursar and Registrar and investigate the motive behind the recording and how the recording gained currency in the social media.

The committee was also directed to investigate the allegations of Engr. Adebayo, particularly the allegation of immoral advances against the vice-chancellor as well as review all previous actions and efforts by the police, the immediate-past chairman of Council and others at unravelling the allegations made by Adebayo against the vice-chancellor.

The committee was also directed to investigate any other matter relating to the allegations.

The post Alleged sexual harassment: We’ll be transparent in probe of V-C -FUOYE appeared first on Frontpageng.

He urged them to continue to sustain the peace on campus.

Fasina, while rejoicing with the Muslims in the university, urged them to reflect on the lessons and reasons for the one month’s denial of luxury life and food, and spread joy and love with a view to ensuring peaceful and prosperous FUOYE of “our dreams.”

His message is contained in a press statement issued in Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State by Mr. Foluso Ogunmodede, the university’s Public Relations Officer.

Fasina enjoined members of staff to continue to show concern and support various efforts by the university Governing Council and the management to fast track development in tandem with FUOYE’s vision and mission of becoming Nigeria’s institution of first choice recognised for providing critical opportunities for students’ success.

He praised the Muslim staff, saying the one month’s denial of food and other things as a result of the Ramadan fasting would not be in vain inshallah.

Fasina urged the Muslim faithful in the university to continue to pray for the institution with a view to making FUOYE of “our dreams” inevitable.

“This university needs your ceaseless prayers to take us to our desired goals,” Fasina added.

The vice-chancellor also seized the opportunity of Eid-el-Fitri to heartily felicitate with members of staff of the university on the occasion of this year’s Workers’ Day celebration, applauding their resilience, invaluable sacrifice and unparallelled selflessness to making FUOYE attain an enviable height.

He said: “As we mark this year’s Workers’ Day, I congratulate you for your resilience, unparallelled dedication to duty, invaluable sacrifice and selflessness. All these will not go in vain.

“I appreciate your immeasurable contributions to sustaining FUOYE’s vision and mission of becoming Nigeria’s institution of first choice recognized for providing critical opportunities for students’ success.”

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The students’ protests, which started immediately when the news of Omowumi’s death hit the campus, soon took a turn for the worse as the Ife-Ibadan and Ilesa-Ife roads were reportedly blocked. Hoodlums, who took advantage, hijacked the protests for their own diabolical purposes and turned the blocked roads into toll gates. Politicians and other people with axes to grind weighed in, ferrying lorry-loads of food items and drinks to the protesters to keep the fire burning. Those not happy with the university administration over some of its “unpopular” decisions boasted they would ‘ENDSARS’ the protest to effect regime change in the university.

If Nigeria has never before been as divided as it is today, so also is my illustrious alma mater, Great Ife!

If Nigeria has never before been as divided as it is today, so also is my illustrious alma mater, Great Ife! The last change of baton at the university was bitterly fought. The then VC, the Governing Council, and their preferred candidate were run out of town by the unions. In the end, the majority opinion prevailed and those rooting for the current VC, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, had their way but the minority or the disgruntled elements remained to seize every opportunity to throw spanners in the works. As with politics, so also with our universities: Alliances do not last forever, especially when expected selfish benefits fail to manifest. Thus was Ogunbodede corrupted by some into Ogunmegbade (he comes wielding the whip)!

Four years ago, Ogunbodede promised to run an unusual administration – and he has not disappointed. I witnessed his inauguration. He has zero tolerance for corruption; he will not steal and will not allow anyone else to do so. How many in today’s Nigeria will love such a leader? His avowed zero tolerance for sexual harassment, sex-for-marks and other forms of social vices has already recorded two casualties. How many predator-lecturers will be beholden to such a VC? Not long ago, it was reported that portions of OAU land were being grabbed by powerful land speculators. Ogunbodede went public with the discovery and warned the land grabbers he would not play ball. No one does that in Nigeria and do not expect repercussions! Corruption fights back – and it can be vicious! OAU is also one of the universities where the rank of lecturers is split down the middle. There is the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and there is also the Congress of Nigerian Universities’ Academics (CONUA). That Ogunbodede has successfully navigated these landmines is a function of his transparency and tenacity of purpose together with the support of a large section of the university community that see eye-to-eye with him on his reforms.

Nevertheless, the proverbial “eku eda” or agent provocateur of the current crisis – the OAU Health Centre – is not new to controversies. Students have protested against it from time immemorial. The present crisis, however, threatens to make a bad case worse for the university, students and parents alike in terms of an academic calendar that was out of sync before and which has now been thrown into a tailspin. Second semester examinations were nearing completion with a new session scheduled to commence in November. Now, no one is sure what is on the cards. Going by the statement issued by the OAU PRO, due diligence was done by the Health Centre. The eventual death of Omowumi, then, could be an act of God or that she reported late for treatment. But if Omowumi exhibited “signs and symptoms of a severe infection” on Tuesday, 28th September, why was she not immediately admitted and placed under observation by the Health Centre? But, as the French will say, “Que sera, sera.”

During my own period at Ife (1978 – 1982), we protested on a number of occasions against the Health Centre. So, students’ protesting against the Health Centre is not new. Students usually will have cause once in a while (real or imagined) to give the Health Centre thumbs down. As Nigerians, we know that hospitals everywhere have degenerated; even the Aso Villa presidential clinic which gets billions of Naira votes reportedly lacked working X-Ray machines and drugs – so we were told by the First Lady and one of the president’s own daughters! So, if gold rusts, what will silver do? Shortages of state-of-the-art facilities, modern equipment, and drugs apart, where are the qualified and experienced personnel with the rate doctors and other medical personnel are checking out of the country and seeking greener pastures and better working environment elsewhere? But I have it on good authority that the OAU Health Centre still boasts some of the best in many respects. What, then, is the problem? Work ethics or what?

May Omowumi’s soul find sweet repose! May her parents, family and friends receive the strength to bear the irreparable loss!

The OAU authorities must take another hard look at its Health Centre. Ogunbodede’s tenure as VC has recorded many firsts; a shake-up at the Health Centre will be a worthwhile addition before his tenure comes to an end in mid-2022. But how time flies! It looks like yesterday when Ogunbodede was inaugurated as VC! Despite the current setback, he must strive still to berth a virile and vibrant students’ unionism at Ife before his exit. In his methodological way of doing things, Ogunbodede consulted far and wide, seeking advice on how to give birth to a rancour-free student’s union election and a responsible and responsive Student Union Government. The OAU Students Election Committee and the Election Petition Committee members were trained by INEC and the election, held on 1st September, 2021, was a huge success without a single petition against its conduct and outcome. Not done yet, the OAU VC went as far as sensitizing the National Institute for Legislative Studies, Abuja on the need to begin the training of our youths as the leaders of tomorrow from the SUG level; both the OAU and the Institute were working on a training programme for the elected SUG leaders before last week’s crisis. The OAU experiment was to serve as a pilot scheme to be replicated all over the country.

Mockers will mock, VCs adverse to students’ unionism on campus will say “serves them right” but my advice to the OAU authorities is to continue to think out of the box and see their novel experiment to its logical conclusion. Scripture says “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again…” Remaining on the floor after a fall is what translates into defeat. Remembering the folklore of the thieving tortoise and his in-law, the OAU authorities must also work hard to re-open the school within days. The remote and immediate causes of the crisis should be painstakingly investigated with adequate student representation on the panel. As an ex-student union leader, we made similar mistakes as today’s students but with the benefit of hindsight, age and experience, I will counsel as follows: Students should endeavour to exhaust all avenues of discussion with the university authorities before embarking on protests. Protests should be confined to the campus to avoid their being hijacked by undesirable elements. Student leaders must discontinue the practice of visiting and doing the bidding of politicians. In our own days, we treated those in power with suspicion; how come nowadays student leaders mill around them like ants mill around sugar? When a crisis occurs, student leaders must neither stand aloof nor remain bellicose but should reach out to the authorities for a quick and amicable settlement of the matter. And they should refrain from precipitating actions that could lead to school closure, such as the SUG announcing the cancellation of ongoing exams! When universities are shut, students and their parents are the ones marking time and losing resources. When you close universities and give students marching orders to quit the hostel within hours, it is the students that suffer; what of those without transport fares? In travelling to and fro, they are also the ones who bear the risks involved. And when school reopens and they are hauled straight into examination halls, they are still the ones that bear the brunt. It is time to wake up and do things differently!

May Omowumi’s soul find sweet repose! May her parents, family and friends receive the strength to bear the irreparable loss! May affliction never again rear its ugly head at Great Ife!

*Bolawole (turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533)

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There is an ongoing war against the vice in the university community.

Fasina, while signing a Memorandum of Understanding with an Abuja-based non-governmental organisation, NGO, Gender Mobile Initiative, GMI, on renewed effort to tackle sexual harassment, insisted that he was ready to sacrifice any lecturer with a view to restoring sanity on campus.

According to the Public Relations Officer of FUOYE, Mr. Foluso Ogunmodede, in a statement, while assuring the NGO and its Executive Director, Omowumi Ogunrotimi, of his support, the Vice Chancellor said there would be no hiding place for any randy lecturer in FUOYE.

Fasina said he would ensure perpetrators of sexual violence faced the music.

Stressing that his zero tolerance for sexual harassment had been activated, he revealed that every arsenal would be deployed to ensure justice reign supreme as he would ensure perpetrators were dismissed after proper investigation had been carried out.

“We will support you to tackle any form of sexual harassment on our campus especially when JAMB has ranked FUOYE as number 5 most-sought after of 176 universities in Nigeria,” Fasina said.

In the statement, Fasina, who fumed against rising cases of sexual abuse in the nation’s universities, assured the NGO  that perpetrators of sexual abuse would no longer have hiding place in the university as his leadership’s zero tolerance would flush them out.

The statement reads in part: FUOYE has partnered an Abuja-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), Gender Mobile Initiative (GMI) on an effort to tackle any form of sexual harassment on the campus.

“The partnership was activated following a Memorandum of Understanding signed with the NGO on behalf of the university by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abayomi Sunday Fasina.

Professor Fasina, who welcome the NGO and its Executive Director Omowumi Ogunrotimi, signed the Memorandum of Understanding in the presence of FUOYE’s Executive Director of Legal and a Director of the university’s Counseling Unit, Professor Omolayo.

He assured the NGO of his support and determination to rid FUOYE of any form of sexual harassment as he would not treat perpetrators with kid gloves but would fire any lecturer culpable of this heinous crime.

He, however, reminded his audience of two cases recorded in the university which necessitated the perpetrators’ outright dismissal after a thorough investigation was conducted.

The Vice-Chancellor said he would not spare anyone found guilty of sexual harassment in the university just as he reiterated his commitment to end sexual abuse following his zero tolerance.

This partnership, Fasina said, had come to stay as it would go a long way to tackle the evil cases of sexual harassment in the university.”

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