The Vice-Chancellor of Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Professor Abayomi Sunday Fasina, has been suspended following allegations of sexual harassment brought against him by a senior female university official, Engr. Folasade Adebayo.
The suspension takes immediate effect and follows the intervention of Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, who reportedly expressed strong dissatisfaction with an earlier decision by the university’s Governing Council Committee which had exonerated Prof. Fasina and instead recommended that the complainant apologise to him.
According to sources cited by Sahara Reporters, the minister called the Governing Council Chairman, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), to register his displeasure at what he saw as an attempt to bury the sexual misconduct claims without due investigation.
This prompted the Governing Council to convene an emergency virtual meeting on Monday, April 14, 2025, where a resolution was passed to relieve the embattled Vice-Chancellor of his duties, though officially described as a decision to allow him proceed on accumulated leave rather than direct suspension.
“As a Vice-Chancellor, if you wish to end your tenure early—especially within six months to the end of your term—you are permitted to proceed on your accumulated leave,” a source explained. Prof. Fasina’s tenure is due to expire in August 2025.
Confirming the development, FUOYE’s Registrar and Secretary to the Governing Council, Mufutau A. Ibrahim, released an official statement:
“The Governing Council of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) at its 7th Emergency Meeting held online on Monday, 14th April 2025, considered the request of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina, to proceed on his accumulated Annual and Research Leave and approved six (6) months, being 126 working days out of his total entitlements of 228 days with effect from today.”
In the interim, the Council has appointed Professor Samuel Olubunmi Shittu, a Professor of Soil Science and current Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics), as Acting Vice-Chancellor for a period of six months.
“Prof. Olubunmi S. Shittu, the incumbent Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics, who is also the most senior of the three Deputy Vice-Chancellors, has been appointed as the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University for a period of six (6) months effective Monday, 14th April, 2025,” the statement added.
The suspension has sparked broader conversations about institutional accountability and the treatment of sexual harassment complaints within Nigeria’s academic system.
