The controversy trailing the processes for the appointment of the next vice-chancellor of the University of Ibadan deepened on Thursday as the outgoing helmsman, Prof. Idowu Olayinka has been alleged of being part of plots to ensure the emergence his deputy, Professor Kayode Adebowale.
OYOINSIGHT.COM recalls that the recent election of two members of the senate selection committee charged with the selection of the next VC has been shrouded by controversies as two of the candidates who participated in the election alleged that it was marred by malpractices and lack of transparency.
As at press time, this newspaper has, however, not been able to reach Olayinka for his reaction.
In a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday, a group within the institution, The Gaskiya Group, alleged that Olayinka was in the know of how the two winners of the senate selection committee members emerged as it was part of plots to ensure the victory of Adebowale.
The group also alleged that the campaign team of Adebowale met regularly with the two winners, Professors Olusola Ayoola and Peter Olapegba in two locations, one of which was the official residence of the outgoing VC.
The group added that the facilities of the VC’s lodge was used to hold Adebowale’s campaign meetings on August 24 and 25, 2020.
The group then called for the immediate constitution of a panel of enquiry to investigate the series of allegations in a bid to safeguard the integrity of the institution.
The statement by the group read in part: “The election of the Senate Representatives on the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board for the Appointment of Vice Chancellor (2020-2025), University of Ibadan, took place on Monday, 21 September 2020.
“Before that election, The Gaskiya Group (TGG) had made certain predictions which have now come to pass. Recall that we noted and condemned the incubation of the ugly trend of ‘ordination’ and ‘predestination’, a situation in which a particular candidate had already been ordained and predestined to occupy the office by some cabals in the University even before the commencement of the race. We also revealed the clandestine move by the so-called cabals to ensure the election of Prof. Ezekiel Olusola Ayoola of the Department of Mathematics and Prof. Peter Olamakinde Olapegba of the Department of Psychology into the Selection Board so as to ensure or force the candidacy of the current Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, Professor Kayode Adebowale on the University community.
“Noting that this unfortunate arrangement would affect the integrity of the process, as well as rob the other contestants of their right to fairness and level playing ground, we also called on Professors Ayoola and Olapegba to pull out of the contest because they had become tainted and could not be fair or objective if they won. We concluded by calling on the University Council, the Federal Government and the general public to take technical note of this dangerous politics that might plunge the university into an unprecedented calamity.
“Upon the circulation of our message, some members of the University of Ibadan community frowned at our audacity to reveal the trend and to say the truth. With the outcome of the election and the concomitant petitions by two of the contestants (Prof Ademola Dasylva and Prof Adesoji Fasanmade) which have gone far and wide, TGG has been vindicated.
“For your information, TGG is on ground monitoring the process of the selection of the new Vice Chancellor for the University of Ibadan and our Intelligence is very strong and unbeatable. Our checks showed that the campaign team of Professor Adebowale met regularly with Professors Ayoola and Olapegba in two locations, one of which was the official residence of the current Vice Chancellor, Prof. Idowu Olayinka. To be precise, Prof Idowu Olayinka used the facilities of the Vice Chancellor’s Lodge to hold Adebowale’s campaign meetings on August 24 and 25, 2020. We are therefore not surprised by the outcome of the election, because we knew from the onset that Professors Ayoola and Olapegba were going to be aided and declared winners by electronic fraud. Our early warning sign was either ignored nor attacked.
“Thus, we still insist that Professors Ayoola and Olapegba, the two so-called winners of the Senate election into the VC Selection Board, are incapable of transparency, having been unmasked as agents of Prof. Idowu Olayinka doing business for Prof. Kayode Adebowale.
“The import of the on-going scenario is that Prof. Idowu Olayinka has demonstrated his inability to be an impartial umpire through his show of support for his DVC Admin, coupled with his boast in private and public functions to install his own candidate, namely, his DVC Admin, in the person of Professor Adebowale. This is in spite of his denial of partiality, a denial that is both tenuous and laughable. At the appropriate time, TGG will release the manifest evidence of other notable desperate actions of the outgoing Vice Chancellor to install his stooge.
“We, therefore, wish to repeat our earlier call on the University Council, the Federal Government and the general public to take technical note of this dangerous politics that may plunge the university into an unprecedented calamity.
“TGG hereby requests an immediate constitution of a panel of enquiry to investigate the damning allegations raised in the petitions of Professors Dasylva and Fasanmade to safeguard the integrity of the selection process. We hold that every autocratic act must be challenged; due process must be followed; the will of the representative majority of UI Senate must prevail.”
Long Live the University of Ibadan
Comrade Bala Ayodele
Coordinator, TGG
September 30, 2020
