THE Federal University of Technology Akure, (FUTA) Chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has denied reports that it rejected the appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor for the institution.
There were reports on Thursday that the union rejected the appointment of Adenike Temidayo Oladiji, a professor, as the institution’s eighth substantive Vice-Chancellor.
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However, in a statement issued on Friday, the leadership of the union dissociated itself from the reports, saying it never rejected the appointment of the new VC.
The chairman of the union, Oluyinka Awopetu, a professor, said those behind the reports were not members of the executive council of the FUTA chapter of ASUU and therefore cannot speak for the union.
“These publications largely titled ‘FUTA VC: ASUU kicks, says appointment fraught with fraud, lacks transparency’ never originated from ASUU-FUTA Secretariat and as such the Union refutes such and calls on all media platforms that circulated such stories to retract them immediately to avoid other consequences.
“The said publication was signed, according to the reports, by two professors who are not members of the executive of ASUU-FUTA branch.
“The two have no rights, neither were they authorized, and are in no capacity to speak for and on behalf of ASUU-FUTA. All communications from the branch are duly released by the branch Chairperson and Secretary only,” the statement signed by Awopetu said.
While reacting to reports that the University Senate held a sitting over the appointment of a new VC, Awopetu added, “We learnt of a purported position of FUTA Senate. As it is, the nation is aware of the ongoing total and comprehensive strike action which in part does not allow any meeting to hold.
“It was thus an embarrassment that our members were purported to have held a Senate meeting. To the best of our knowledge and all facts on the ground, no Senate meeting was held at our University to pursue this position.
“The Union is currently reviewing the process of the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor following the due procedure laid down for the consumption of our members to avoid any form of misrepresentation.”