The Senate Committee on Ethics and Discpline, chaired by Senator Ayo Akinyelure of Ondo Federal Constituency, on Monday cleared air on the termination of appointment of the esthwhile Registrar of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Mr. Olatunbosun Odusanya.
Following the termination of his appointment by the Governing Council of FUOYE, Odusanya had petitioned the Senate alleging that his sack did not follow due process.
Consequently, the Senate Committee on Ethics and Discpline invited the Governing Council and the Management of FUOYE as well as the petitioner in order to arbitrate on the matter.
A statement by the Special Adviser on Media Matters to the Vice-Chancellor, (VC) FUOYE, Wole Balogun, which was made available to newsmen on Wednesday, disclosed that the five man Committee of the Senate in session held at the Senate building in Abuja on Monday, June 7, listened to comments by the petitioner, and the Respondents, who were the Chairman of FUOYE Governing Council, Dr. Mohammed Yahuza and FUOYE VC, Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina.
While Odusanya alleged that his sack did not follow due process, and urged the Senate to appeal to FUOYE’s Governing Council to allow him to get his job back, Dr. Yahuza explained that the termination of the appointment of the Ex-Registrar was done in strict adherence to due process as laid down by the University Regulations on appointment and disciplinary measures for principal officers.
The FUOYE Council chairman, who disclosed that he has a good knowledge of the regulations guiding the procedures for the appointment and termination of appointment of Federal civil servants, having served for 35 years in the Federal civil service before retiring as Director of Administration as well as serving at several.administrative capacities at the Federal level. He assured that he would be the last person to truncate due process in such matters.
Dr. Yahuza justified Odusanya’s sack, saying that the esthwhile Registrar had committed several infractions which earned him the termination of his appointment. Dr. Yahuza said: “I had served for 35 years in the federal civil service and retired as a Director of Administration. I have also served the Federal government in several administrative capacities after retirement. I am the last person to truncate due process in dealing with the discipline of a principal officer in a federal Institution such as FUOYE.
“Prior to the events that culminated into the termination of the appointment of the embattled former Registrar of FUOYE, I had four reconciliatory meetings with the other members of the Management and the former Registrar to discuss the possibility of an harmonious working relationship. But unfortunately it didn’t work out.
“Odusanya committed several serious infractions in three areas which were the Public Service Rules, Section 10 to 12 of University Rules concerning staff recruitment and the Federal Character Commission Establishment Act and we had to strictly follow the University Regulations to deal with his case,” he said.
While making his clarification on the matter, the VC, in his submission, stated clearly that he was not involved in any way in the sack of the embattled ex-Registrar.
He cited some of the specific infractions committed by the esthwhile Registrar to include illegal appointment of 337 staff members, appointment of a 64 year old man as Senior Lecturer, appointment of a staff whose appointment had been terminated from a previous Institution and failure to follow due process in several appointments, among others.
The Senate Committee however, appealed to FUOYE Council chairman to find a way to grant a soft landing for the embattled Odusanya as a way of finally resolving the matter. Dr. Yahuza acceded to the appeal but said it would be subjected to an appeal in that direction by the embattled ex-Registrar and an urgent fulfilment of certain conditions as would be dictated by the FUOYE Governing Council.
