PROFESSOR Kayode Somerekun, Vice-Chancellor, Federal University Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), has reacted to allegations of financial misappropriation and maladministration, brought against him by the leadership of the Association of Academic Union of Universities (ASUU).
The Vice-Chancellor, in a statement sent to The ICIR by Adeyinka Ademuyiwa, the university’s Deputy Director, Corporate Services, clarified that the University’s Governing Council before it was dissolved and reconstituted gave approval for what the academic union called unauthorised and secret recruitment.
He added that all the university’s recruitment were well monitored by the Federal Character Commission which according to him also issued a certificate of compliance to the university as regarding all recruitment exercises.
“Everyone who knows how universities operate will testify that recruitment procedures in Federal Universities follow this pattern: Council directs that, vacant positions be advertised, usually in at least two national dailies; applicants’ responses are allowed for six weeks within which nothing could be done; subsequently, harvested applications are scrutinised and shortlisted following approved criteria; interviews are in turn conducted and the most suitable candidate selected,” Ademuyiwa explained.
“In addition, the regulation allows Vice-Chancellors to appoint people in some situations and obtain waivers from relevant authorities. Such appointments are later regularised within a given time-frame.
“Incidentally, the only grouse of these people is the thinking that the FUOYE management placed advert recently between the last Governing Council whose tenure expired in February 2020 and the new one which was inaugurated in July, 2020.”
On allegations of financial misappropriation, he said ASUU has approached the court on the same issue, adding that it was the lack of patience with no regard for fairness and justice that has made the union to seek attention in the media.
Ademuyiwa also noted that the financial dealings of the university were currently under the scrutiny of the Auditor General and Public Accounts Committee of the Federation.
“Readers should note that the same people who are making this allegation had approached a court on this same issue. Lacking patience, and not seeking fairness or justice but distractions and confusion, they are now rushing to the media to do what?” he said.
“Secondly, universities across the country are monitored and controlled through defined processes. In FUOYE’s case and with respect to 2016/2017 session in particular, both the Auditor General of the Federation and the Public Accounts Committee of the Federation are doing their jobs in this regard.”
According to him, the Committee had late last year requested for some information which he said the university has responded.
“This is a normal audit process done periodically for all universities and FUOYE’S case was not peculiar. “To imply recklessness or connote misappropriation to routinous financial controls and auditing processes is to further expose the evil intent of writers of these allegations,” Ademuyiwa said.
“Finally, this faction of FUOYE ASUU should know that they cannot run the university for delegated authorities. They cannot distract this Soremekun administration which has been popularly acclaimed as performing transforming the landscape of FUOYE,” he said.
The ICIR reports that the Akure Zone of ASUU had in a statement which was signed by Olu Olufayo, Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Adeola Egbedokun, Chairperson of ASUU, OAU, Yinka Awopetu, Chairperson of ASUU, FUTA, Kayode Arogundade, Chairperson of ASUU, EKSU, and Akinyemi Omonijo, Chairperson of ASUU at FUOYE, accused the Vice-Chancellor of flagrant disregard of the university’s rules and regulations since his assumption of duty at the university.
It noted that Somerekun has recently embarked on some acts that were inimical to the ethics of governance of the budding university.
The union accused him of secret recruitment, irregular staff promotion and improper advertisement of vacant positions of principal officers within the university while all tertiary institutions were shut down in the country by the Federal Government owing to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
However, Ademuyiwa noted in the statement that the FUOYE ASUU faction led by a suspended staff, Gabriel Omonijo and his co-travellers has always been in a business of maligning the VC in the public despite asking the national leadership of the union to beg the VC on their behalf.
“The case of FUOYE ASUU faction led by a suspended staff, Mr Gabriel Omonijo and his co-travellers in mudslinging business is well known in the media and the courts. They are rabble-rousers who begin the day and attack at night.
“Otherwise, how do you define people who went to the leadership of ASUU at the National level to help them intervene and beg university management through a delegation that visited the school on Thursday Nov.28, 2019, led by no less a personality than the National Vice President, Comrade V.E. Osodeke but almost simultaneously went to court to contest the same issue they were begging for?” he said.
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