The management of Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) in Ekiti State has debunked what it described as the barefaced lies and misinformation being spread against its Pro-Chancellor/Chairman Governing Council, Distinguished Senator Ndoma-Egba, SAN, and the substantive Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof. Abayomi Fasina, maintaining that the University is in good standing.
In a press release signed by the University’s Registrar, Mr. Mufutau Ibrahim, FUOYE management wondered why Sahara Reporters has never put up any report on the outstanding achievements and exponential growth of FUOYE, but will always be quick to publish falsehoods about a fast-growing institution that has become one of the highly rated and most admired universities in the country.
The university management was equally appalled that Sahara Reporters, would say that a legal luminary of Ndoma-Egba’s stature who has spent 47 years at the Bar, 21 years as Senior Advocate of Nigeria, served as Deputy Senate Leader and Senate Leader for 8 years put together, prepared and presented the bills that established FUOYE and its peers in 2011, “does not appear to understand the University Establishment Act”.
Noting that the University was on track and focussed on how to manage its growth and entrench the FUOYE standard, the management shrugged off all the baseless allegations and obvious lies contained in the misleading report against the respected Pro-Chancellor, Ndoma-Egba and VC Fasina.
The Press Release as signed by FUOYE’s Registrar, Mr. Ibrahim, reads in full:
“We read with a great deal of dismay and utter distress the malicious write-up published on the website of the Sahara Reporters and we are unequivocal in our conclusion that the story titled: NIGERIA’S FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OYE-EKITI PRO-CHANCELLOR, SUSPENDED VC ACCUSED OF MANIPULATING RECRUITMENT, BENDING RULES TO FAVOUR LOYALISTS was deliberately contrived to embarrass the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti and to cast aspersion on the integrity of the governing council, as well as the personalities of the Council Chairman and the Vice-Chancellor of the university.
“The said publication is laced with outright falsehoods and gives not even a shred of evidence to back up all, or any of the weighty allegations that it contains.
“The allegation that the Council Chairman, Distinguished Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba deliberately suppressed staff appeals to Council, including those with genuine cases, and was engaged in a witch-hunt on the instruction of 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 of Council. By all accounts, the Chairman, Ndoma-Egba is older in age to the Vice-Chancellor and higher in authority. It is inconceivable and ridiculous, apart from the warped imaginations of Sahara Reporters, that a junior person in age and rank would give instructions to the person rank up.
“While the publication in Sahara Reporters intends to mislead the general public to the jaundiced assumption that there is crisis in FUOYE, the reality and the truth of the matter is that the University has been operating in a harmonious and tranquil atmosphere. All efforts of the Governing Council to ensure peace in the University are yielding positive results at the moment. Only those who have resolved to destabilize the system are still making negative report about the University.
“To confirm the motive of the enemy 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 appointment of Deans is by election in various faculties and no recruitment of professors was done.
“It is extant in the regulatory rules of the University that the appointment of non-teaching Directors is subject to recommendation by the University Management to the Governing Council through the Appointment and Promotions Committee, and neither the Pro-chancellor nor the Vice-Chancellor can manipulate the process.
“In any case, the posting of non-career Directors, especially that of 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 was in the middle of some processes be allowed some months to conclude them before being changed. Moreover, his replacement was to be duly certified by the Bureau for Public Procurement and from the procurement cadre. This was not the case from the instant matter.
“How then does that violate the provisions of extant regulations? How did Sahara Reporters come to the disturbing conclusion that the directive for the Procurement Officer to conclude his ongoing assignment was as a result of contract racketeering and procurement irregularities? 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.
“It is 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 of 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 Fasina’s preferred candidate.
“It is pertinent to state that the requirement that candidates for the positions of Directors of Physical Planning and 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 Vice-Chancellor was in line with the Honourable Minister of Education Policy Statement on the appointment of Vice-Chancellors in Nigerian 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 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 claimed by Sahara Reporters and certainly not in Nigeria as at the time of the publication.
“The allegation that the Council Chairman is involved in contract matters is most frivolous. All the current contracts in the University have been awarded before Senator Ndoma-Egba physically appeared in FUOYE in January of this year.
“It is in the same vein that it beats the requirement of logic, that a Council chairman who has yet to be in the saddle for 10-months would have ‘preferred candidates’ for promotions in the university.
“It must be stated in unambiguous terms, that the Federal Government has yet to give approval for the recruitments, and such claims that ‘Ndoma-Egba and the suspended Vice-Chancellor manipulated recruitment processes and alter regulations’, remain preposterous and laughable.
“Finally, the University has benefited immensely from the wide wealth of experience of the Pro-Chancellor, a Senior Advocate with 47 years of experience at the Bar, twenty-one (21) of them as Senior Advocate of Nigeria and extensive experience in the leadership of the National Assembly, as Deputy Senate Leader and Leader of the Senate. To say that such a rich profile, “does not appear to understand the University Establishment Act” is to say the least, stuff of the charlatans.
“Consequently, the Governing Council is appealing to those who never see anything good in the University to desist from tarnishing the good name of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti and join hands with us to develop FUOYE to the University of our dreams. FUOYE has recorded outstanding achievements which clearly Sahara Reporters is not interested in.
“Sahara Reporters has substituted its prejudice for justice in the Engr. Mrs. Folashade Adebayo sexual harassment saga which was investigated by the Police, the Kayode Ojo Council and the Ndoma-Egba Council, all reaching the same conclusion. We need not say more as the matter is sub-judice.”
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of FUOYE, Mr. Foluso Ogunmodede, while countering another publication by Sahara Reporters, entitled: “Power struggles rock FUOYE as Pro-Chancellor, Senator Ndoma-Egba SAN, suspended Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Fasina reportedly sabotage Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olubunmi Shittu’s effort,” said “It’s obvious that there is no power struggle in the university as at no time the Pro-Chancellor ever interfered in the administrative process of the university except where there were infractions which would involve the entire Council to take a democratic and collective decision.
In a report posted on FUOYE’s website, Mr. Ogunmodede stated that “Sahara Reporters’ missile of lies failed to hit its target especially as there was no bickering or power struggles going on in the university.
“Instead, FUOYE has risen above any unforeseen circumstances, emerging stronger especially in the last four months of the tenure of the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olubunmi Shittu without any encumbrance or being teleguided by any supposed powers from above.
“Professor Shittu has been responsible for the day -to-day running of the university as whatever decisions made in conjunction with the two Deputy Vice-Chancellors had been in the collective interest of the university.
“However, FUOYE has never struggled but weathered the storm through concerted efforts of the Council, management, senate, students and other major stakeholders to arrive at its present force to reckon with, competing with first generation universities.
“As a matter of fact, FUOYE is consistently ranked as number four most subscribed university in Nigeria after Lagos State University, University of Lagos and the University of Ilorin, 12th in Nigeria in the world university ranking and 38th in the entire Sub-Sahara Africa according to Times Higher Education (THE).
“This is perhaps an evidence that the university’s rising academic reputation and global recognition is by no mere coincidence but consistent dint of hard work.
“Yet, Sahara Reporters would not see good in the FUOYE’s steady academic rising-reputation other than its obsession with negative narratives which had made Sahara Reporters nothing but Nigeria’s homegrown carriers and merchant of fake news.
“It’s surprising that Sahara Reporters takes glory in dishing out fake news about FUOYE without reminiscing about the success story of FUOYE as it continued to spread falsehood against the Pro-Chancellor and the substantive Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Fasina.
“Neither Pro-Chancellor nor the substantive Vice-Chancellor ‘deliberately frustrated Acting Vice-Chancellor through internal members of staff’ as being touted by Sahara Reporters in its latest fake news.
“While consistently referring to the substantive Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Fasina as suspended Vice-Chancellor, we make bold to say again that the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina was never suspended from office.
“Rather, he proceeded on an accumulated research leave of six months as approved by the university Governing Council. He will return to office at the expiration of his six-month research leave in October.
“Besides, since on leave in the United States of America, Prof. Fasina had never interfered in the running of the university as he willingly relinquished administrative independence to Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olubunmi Shittu, who had in his effort stabilised the system through steady progress.
“The Pro-Chancellor, Senator Ndoma-Egba SAN also played no roles or interfered in administrative day- to-day running of the university as this was an exclusive preserve of the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Shittu.”