The embattled Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Ekiti State, Southwest Nigeria, Abayomi Fasina, has embarked on a sudden leave from the university and a successor in acting capacity has been appointed.
This was confirmed by the university’s Public Relations Officer, Foluso Ogunmodede.
Also, in a two-paragraph statement issued by the university and signed by the Registrar, Mufutau Ibrahim, a copy of which was obtained by DevReporting, the governing council said it approved the request by the vice-chancellor to embark on his accumulated leave.
The new development may not be unconnected to the sexual harassment scandal rocking the university and the controversies that trailed the recent verdict by the institution’s governing council, which allegedly freed Mr Fasina of the allegation levelled against him by a female Deputy Director on the campus, Folasade Adebayo.
The governing council during an emergency meeting on Monday afternoon approved Mr Fasina’s request to embark on his accumulated research leave ahead of the 11 February 2026 end of his five-year tenure of office.
The development is strange in Nigeria’s university setting as vice-chancellors stay in office till the end of their tenure and hand over to their successor ceremoniously.
However, in the case of Mr Fasina, DevReporting exclusively learnt that the new development followed the rejection of the governing council’s decision to exonerate Mr Fasina in its recent verdict on the sexual scandal allegation by the Education Minister, Tunji Alausa.
Background
A series of audio recordings obtained by DevReporting revealed troubling interactions between Mr Fasina, a Professor of Soil Science, and Mrs Adebayo, an engineer.
The recordings, which went viral, contain disturbing conversations where Mr Fasina made sexual advances towards Mrs Adebayo.
Conversation between the duo revealed that Mr Fasina’s inappropriate behaviour began after Mrs Adebayo, originally stationed at the Ikole campus, was invited to join the management team on the main campus.
Unknown to her, the invitation was allegedly driven by the vice-chancellor’s personal motives, with his advances reportedly becoming more overt over time.
Despite Mrs Adebayo’s clear rejection, Mr Fasina continued to pressure her, disregarding her marital status and the professional boundaries between them.
SSANU petitions council
Following an official report by Mrs Adebayo, the university’s chapter of SSANU wrote the governing council and issued a public statement accusing the vice-chancellor of sexually molesting its member.
The signatories to the union’s statement were immediately suspended by the governing council, which accused them of tarnishing the image of the institution.
However, following the intervention of the national leadership of the union, the governing council set up investigative panels, which submitted its report recently, leading to the verdict announced by the university.
Despite the overwhelming evidence presented through the audio recordings, and documents indicating unwarranted punishments, the governing council of FUOYE cleared Mr Fasina of any sexual harassment allegations.
According to the statement by the registrar Mr Fasina was asked to recuse himself from the meeting to allow “free and open deliberation” on the report of the investigative panel.
Council members reportedly listened to audio recordings with the help of a translator. However, the statement confirmed that the recordings were not subjected to forensic examination.
Despite this, the council concluded that there was ‘no case of sexual harassment’, reaffirming a prior investigation by the Nigeria Police, in which Adebayo had reportedly stated that she was not harassed.
Council alleges blackmail
The council said it strongly condemned the act of secretly recording the VC, describing it as a deliberate attempt to blackmail him into confirming Mrs Adebayo as substantive Director of Works, a position the council said he had no authority to approve.
It said Mrs Adebayo’s tenure as acting director had expired, contrary to claims that she was removed from office.
The council further noted that at no time did Mrs Adebayo formally submit a complaint of sexual harassment against Mr Fasina.
Warning
At the meeting, Mrs Adebayo was directed to write a letter of apology to the council within seven days, even as she was chided for allegedly bringing the university’s name into disrepute.
The council also criticised the university management for backdating Mrs Adebayo’s promotion to 2015 instead of 2024, describing the move as preferential treatment and directed that the decision be reviewed.
The university management was formally warned and asked to avoid a repeat.
SSANU kicks
Meanwhile, in its reaction to the council’s decision, SSANU said it had anticipated the outcome.
The National Vice President and Chairman of Western zone of the union, Abdussobur Salaam, in a statement on Thursday, said the council had by its decision laid a bad precedent and a new low for the Nigerian university system with “the grasp at straws in the desperate attempt to protect the villain while further victimising the victim.”
The statement reads in part: “This is the reason why we had maintained that the continued stay in office of the vice chancellor during the pendency of the investigation would compromise the fairness of the process. We have not been proven wrong.
“The council, with a Senior Advocate of Nigeria as its chairman, should have known that an investigation panel is a process and not an event. This process began over four months ago and SSANU has enough reason to assert that the process had been compromised within that period.”
U-Turn
Following the outrage that followed the decision of the council to exonerate Mr Fasina, DevReporting learnt that the minister rejected the council’s action, and demanded the “right thing must be done.”
However, insiders told this newspaper that the governing council’s decision to save the face of Mr Fasina informed the idea of approving an accumulated leave.
A copy of the agenda of an emergency council meeting held on Monday listed only the request for leave by the vice chancellor and the appointment of an acting successor as the two items for discussion.
The development surprised stakeholders as the vice-chancellor’s leave could not have ordinarily warranted the emergency council meeting.
Successor
Meanwhile, the hitherto Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Academics, Olubunmi Shittu, a Professor of Agriculture, has been appointed to act as the university’s vice chancellor for the next six months.
By then, the process to appoint another substantive vice-chancellor would have commenced. It is, however, not clear whether Mr Fasina would return to the university or not. But the university’s spokesman, Mr Ogunmodede, said the decision by Mr Fasina to embark on his accumulated leave has nothing to do with the sexual harassment scandal.
