…says spreading falsehood’ll Compound sacked lecturers’ woes
The Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) has dismissed what it described as “spurious allegations of double salary being peddled by some sacked lecturers of the university against the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abayomi Sunday Fasina”
The University said the allegation is not only unfounded but a campaign of calumny and defamation of character against the Vice-Chancellor.
it added a series of administrative panels set up by the Ekiti State University, EKSU and FUOYE which probed into the matter, had also since exonerated Prof Abayomi Fasina of the allegations and given him a clean bill of health.
Dr Omonijo
The sacked lecturers, Drs. Akinyemi Gabriel Omonijo, Oniyide Akingbe and Oluwagbemiga Adeyemi had accused the Vice-Chancellor of collecting double salary as a staff of the Ekiti State University while on a sabbatical at FUOYE where he emerged as the best candidate for the institution’s VCship race last year.
Specifically, FUOYE’s media team described Omonijo, who was impeached as local branch chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as” a pathological and unrepentant liar who has refused to mend his ways in spite of the fact that nemesis has since caught up with him for his past misdeeds for which he has since been paying dearly for”
The media team, however ,”wondered why Omonijo would refuse to turn a new leaf after a long while of paying dearly for his ‘sins’ and rather continue to make blackmail FUOYE’s Chief Executive and the principal officers his stock in trade since 2018 when things turned sour for him after he was found guilty of gross misconduct for violating several aspects of the University’s regulations.
“Most notably the public display of the institution’s confidential documents including letters of appointment and payslips of some staff.
The media team said “spreading lies to the public with the aim of rubbishing a system which had nurtured him, would only increase Omonijo’s sorrow and deepen his frustration”
While reacting to a publication that has gone viral online entitled “ASUU’s Objections on State of FUOYE, Unethical Recruitment, Behind Our Unlawful Sack – Dr Akinyemi G. Omonijo”, the media team disclosed that Omonijo has told the world the same old lies he had told against the immediate past Vice-Chancellor, Prof.Kayode Soremekun and some members of his management team, which incidentally included the incumbent VC, Prof.Abayomi Sunday Fasina in the latest publication.
In a press statement co-signed by the institution’s Public Relations Officer, Foluso Ogunmodede and the S.A Media to VC, Wole Balogun, the FUOYE media team countered the false claims by the sacked lecturer and described him as a leopard who has refused to change its spot since 2018 when the Law of Karma began to catch up with him for his gross misdeeds against the University and his colleagues.
The media team equally corrected the allegedfalse impression created by “the unfortunate report on the genesis of the face-off between Omonijo and his co-travellers, Akingbe and Adeyemi and the University Management , which reads:
“It’s been a prolonged battle between the authorities of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State (FUOYE) and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) led by its chairperson, Dr Akinyemi Gabriel Omonijo. Typical of ASUU’s struggles, the disagreement began when the union’s chapter stood up to what it saw as unethical recruitment and promotion practices by the university management. What followed were the suspension and subsequent termination of the appointments of those suspected to be behind the ‘trouble’ on some unspecified allegations of ‘misconduct’.
According to FUOYE media team, “the above introductory remarks are not only one-sided, shamefully in favor Omonijo and his co-travelers, but also misleading and false. It said the truth in this regard is that Omonijo and his co-travellers began to pay for their sins when they were found guilty of committing gross misconduct against the University after proper investigation was conducted and the disciplinary procedures carefully and transparently exhausted”
The media team’s statement further reads: “The introductory remarks are in the unfortunate report is really disappointing coming from one who is supposed to be a Reporter with flair for professionalism and ethical considerations. It is not only misleading but grossly one sided, shamefully taking sides with Omonijo and his co-travellers.
Truth is that the three lecturers’ nightmare began when they committed gross misconduct against the University. Their misfortune since 2018 is not connected in any way to their union activities. It is mainly about their official misdeeds against the University Regulations of which they were duly punished for this only after proper disciplinary procedures were duly followed and exhausted.
“While such probe had established prima facie evidence against Omonijo for illegally obtaining official documents, including personal files and payslips of University’s staff members and exposing/publishing such for public consumption, causing unnecessary unrest on campus by blackmailing the University in the media,the duo of Akingbe and Adeyemi were found guilty of gross misconduct with respect to the misappropriation of Tetfund research funds.Apart from his abuse of tetfund research grants Akingbe in particular, was also found guilty of plagiarism.
It should be noted that the case of plagiarism against Akingbe originated from the report of one of the external assessors for his professorial promotion. The report was further subjected to another external review which affirmed the validity of the first report.
“In fact, Omonijo is a failed leader of his colleagues as he was ingloriously kicked out of FUOYE ASUU local branch for gross misconduct against the Union. His impervious actions did not only polarize the union into four different camps—Old ASUU, New ASUU, CONUA and the Concerned Academics of FUOYE, but also created bad blood within the Executive Council (EXCO) many of who eventually resigned their positions and disowned him for his high-handedness as well as dictatorial and authoritarian dispositions.
“Again, Omonijo lied when he said in the interview that ” The management and authorities of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) have deliberately been delaying the implementation of the consent judgement of the National Industrial Court since 29th July, 2021 in my case…
“Dr. Omonijo breached the university rules and regulations in many respects for which he was duly sanctioned by the University Council.
“The University Council as a law abiding organ of the University which comprised people of high integrity from various walks of life will not do anything to compromise the rule of law. However, the Council, in its considered opinion, is not asking for too much by demanding that Dr Omonijo should sign an undertaking to be of Good conduct as part of the requirements for his full reinstatement.
This does not in anyway violate the terms of the out-of- court settlement for his reinstatement. While the court directed his reinstatement, Council has a responsibility to ensure the judgment in line with our administrative procedures and obligations. The Council is in possession of informed legal opinions that it is not the intention of the court to override or suspend the laws of the University in the execution of the out-of-court settlement.
“Moreover, similar cases occurred whereby those involved also penned an undertaking to the Council before their reinstatement. As far as the University Council is concerned, we have duly complied with the court’s directive; but will always ensure that the rules and regulations of the university are protected against any infraction by its members of staff.
“The incumbent VC, Prof. Fasina had thought Omonijo would turn a new leaf, having been in the doldrum for years. Moreover, some good spirited people had pleaded on his behalf for the Management to tamper justice with mercy. As a man of his words who is compassionate, the VC opted to embrace settling out-of-court with him. But now that he has shown to the world that he is an unrepentant liar and blackmailer, it would be better to allow the due process of Law to take its full course.
“The FUOYE media team in particular, frowned at Dr. Omonijo’s careless and false claim that the VC initiated the peace pact in order to prevent his inauguration into office on February 11, 2021 from being truncated. It clarified that the inauguration of Prof. Fasina on February 11, 2021 as the fourth substantive VC of FUOYE was meant to be against all odds because the highest authority of the University, the Governing Council, which represents her owner, the Federal Government, had already appointed Prof. Fasina and nothing could have changed that.
“Again, Dr. Omonijo told his usual blatant lie against Prof. Fasina to the public when he told the reporter in the interview that: “The action of Prof. Fasina, that is, the collection of double salaries in two different institutions simultaneously constitutes criminal act and misconduct that is punishable under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 [As Amended; code of conduct for Public Officers, part 1 (2)] and the extant Public Service Rules, 2009 [PSR; Chapter 3, section 4, 030401 and 030402 (q)].”
Our reaction to the lies above is that Prof. Fasina has never collected double salaries from Ekiti State University (EKSU) and FUOYE, no panel of either University has indicted him on this and even the anti-graft agencies, particularly the ICPC have probed the allegation and found nothing against the VC. For the umpteenth time, the truth regarding this matter is that EKSU paid in arrears the salaries it owed Prof. Fasina before he left the University for his new job in FUOYE in 2017. It was this salary payment in arrears that some evil people are alleging to be double salaries. Omonijo risks legal hammer from the VC with this careless and untrue lies.
“FUOYE media team also countered Omonijo’s untrue claim that he and his co-travelers were unjustly sacked. The truth is that the three of them, as earlier stated, had committed gross misconduct against the University Regulations and were accordingly fired in line with strict adherence to the Regulations of the institution.
“The disciplinary procedures leading to their various penalties were thorough and transparent and in line with our regulations. In fact, all committees (Investigative and Disciplinary) had ASUU representatives, who fully participated in the processes and duly signed the reports of the committees. Relevant and incontrovertible evidences against them are available in the University records for public consumption.
Another blatant lie told by Omonijo in the report reads in part:
“At this meeting, Prof. Fasina confessed that he carried out all the actions on the directive of Prof. Kayode Soremekun, FUOYE’s former VC as a sign of his loyalty and precondition to succeed him as VC. He said he was just an extra-tyre in the administration of Prof. Kayode Soremekun. After his confession, both Prof. Fasina and his wife appealed to us and our lawyer to sheathe our sword.”
“Our reaction to the aforementioned lies is that, at no point did Prof. Fasina confessed to taking some actions on the directive of the former VC as a precondition to succeed the erstwhile VC, neither did he ever beg Omonijo over all the misfortune that befell him leading to his impeachment as ASUU FUOYE local chair and sack as FUOYE staff. Instead, some good spirited people had met the VC to plead for Omonijo to save him by appealing to the Governing Council to temper justice with mercy in handling his case.
“Puncturing Omonijo’s lies that “the face-off between ASUU-FUOYE branch and FUOYE’s management started in 2018 when Prof. Kayode Soremekun was the VC and Prof. Fasina, the current VC, the DVC of the University. The face-off was due to illegal recruitment, appointment, promotion and abnormal placement,”
FUOYE media team said “this is far from being the truth as the face-off was a fall-out of the gross misconduct by the three unfortunate lecturers.
“Besides, they were merely raising allegations of misconduct against the former VC without being able to substantially prove those allegations with incontrovertible evidence.
Reacting also to the following lies:
“Three of us were involved; Dr. Oniyide Akingbe was dismissed, appointment of Dr. Oluwagbemiga Adeyemi was terminated while I was suspended without pay. All these happened in 2018 and 2019 and all of us went to court. Let me mention that Dr Oluwagbemiga Adeyemi has won his case at both the National Industrial Court of Nigeria and Appeal Court but the university has appealed the judgment to the Supreme Court in order to waste time unnecessarily because labor matters at NICN cannot get to the Supreme Court.”
FUOYE media team said Omonijo was initially suspended but later sacked when he refused to retrace his steps and rather worsened his trouble by becoming too recalcitrant. As for the issue with Adeyemi, the University has a legal right to report the lower court to the Supreme Court on issues of technicalities in handling the case. It was this right that has been duly exercised.
FUOYE media team noted strongly the “undue attention paid to the allegation of double salary in this ill-fated online report, stating that several government agencies, including the Minister of Education, reported to have not taken any action. And we wonder if Omonijo in his self delusion thought that any right thinking government official would take any action against the VC when they have nothing against him.
“The allegation is not true, unfounded, baseless and only exists in the imagination of the unfortunate dramatic personae spreading the falsehood, so no sane official would take it serious.
“Finally our reaction to the fallacy said below by Omonijo: “You know it cannot be easy for someone with family not to receive salary for more than three years. However, we give thanks unto God for His faithfulness and mercy over our lives. We appreciate our Union (ASUU) and the general public for their support as
“the fact is that members of ASUU in FUOYE have been accusing him of spending millions of Naira of their dues without going through due process. Worse still, no auditing of the account of the Union had taken place in the last couple of years.
“Members have vowed to deal with this issue in a most decisive way in due course. This is the next phase of the struggle to rid our Union of all forms of dictatorship and corruption,” the members insist.