UNIOSUN VC Absolves Self of Fraud Allegations

By Nofisat Marindoti

The Vice Chancellor of Osun State University, UNIOSUN, Professor Labode Popoola, has debunked the allegation of defrauding the university to the tune of N6 billion, saying the university overhead is N170 million per month and his administration is not up to two years in office.

This is even as he asserted that the EFCC has all the rights to investigate any petition against him.

Addressing a press conference at the University’s main campus in Osogbo, Popoola explained that his refusal to cease anti-graft war has been the major reason behind the persistent crises in the University.

He however insisted that he would never trade peace for fraud no matter the petition, allegation or protest against his leadership.

He vowed that he would rather resign and go instead of colluding with fraud,  maintained that he will not do anything that will spoil his reputation in the name of peace.

“I will not trade peace for fraud. I will rather resign and go. I’m not going to collude with fraud. They were spending about N11 million to conduct exam before I resumed. We are spending less than N3 million now.”

Professor Popoola described the recent release by the National PRO of SSANU on UNIOSUN as “bias and inappropriateness of defence towards members of SSANU who are subsidiary members of Joint Action Committee, JAC.”

Speaking on the agitation of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria University, SSANU, Popoola said “a former Secretary of NASU in the person of Mr Olugbeja was illegally awarded a Tetfund Grant for a conference in the USA but unfortunately, he absconded from the release. His monthly salaries were not stopped until due process was followed.

“NASU Chairman, Mr. Isaiah Fayemi, got himself entangled in a financial mess involving missing booklets of receipts of the University. All these occurred before my assumption of duties in November 2016. Management approved the report of the investigate panel that Mr. Fayemi and others involved in the receipt booklet scam should face the Staff Disciplinary Committee (SDC). Since that decision was taken, the university has not known peace.”

The VC explained that Olugbeja was stepped down by the audit department and the stoppage of his payment necessitated an agitation from NASU thus culminated into physical assault on the former Ag. Head of Internal Audit by NASU.

He noted that the order of the governing council of the University that all non-academic staff members below level 13 should sign a register on daily resumption was also disobeyed on the order of JAC leadership.

He said the disobedience had led to disruption of activities in the University thus making the institution to lose N120million Tetfund special Grant and other losses.

The University VC said the JAC also refused to write apology as directed by the governing council and instead went ahead to disrupt the 2018 convocation by shutting down the university gates, thus preventing the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, former Governor Rauf Aregbesola and other eminent personalities from entering.

He noted that the crisis is not likely to end because he would not bend rules.

He averred that he would want to address the press henceforth on research breakthrough by academic staff as well as students’ excellence than needless distractions from people who would want to use unionism to defraud and disrupt the peace of the university.