By Alade Adisa
The Governing Council of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) has suspended its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abayomi Sunday Fasina, following allegations of sexual harassment made by a senior university official, Engineer Folasade Adebayo.
The suspension was confirmed in a statement on Monday by the university’s Registrar and Secretary to the Governing Council, Mr. Mufutau A. Ibrahim.
The statement reads in part:
“The Governing Council of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), at its 7th Emergency Meeting held online on Monday, April 14, 2025, considered the request of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abayomi Sunday Fasina, to proceed on his accumulated Annual and Research Leave. The Council approved a six-month leave, amounting to 126 working days from his total entitlement of 228 days, effective from April 14, 2025.”
The Council also announced the appointment of Professor Olubunmi S. Shittu, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) and most senior among the three Deputy Vice-Chancellors, as Acting Vice-Chancellor for the duration of the leave.
This development follows strong dissatisfaction expressed by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, over the Council’s initial handling of the sexual harassment allegation.
According to a source, the Minister was “very angry” that the Council allegedly downplayed the complaint and requested the complainant to apologise to the Vice-Chancellor.
“He was unhappy that the Council attempted to dismiss the complaint and instead instructed the complainant to apologise. He contacted the Council Chairman, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), to express his displeasure,” the source said.
Following the Minister’s intervention, Senator Ndoma-Egba convened an emergency online meeting of the Governing Council at 2:00 p.m. on Monday. During the meeting, members resolved to suspend Professor Fasina. However, the Vice-Chancellor reportedly appealed to be allowed to proceed on leave rather than face a formal suspension.
The Council subsequently approved the request and confirmed the appointment of Professor Samuel Olubunmi Shittu, a Professor of Soil Science and the current Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics), as Acting Vice-Chancellor for six months.
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