BACKDOOR REINSTATEMENT: HOW FUOYE’S COUNCIL CHAIRMAN, SENATOR VICTOR NDOMA-EGBA, AND EMBATTLED VICE CHANCELLOR, PROF. ABAYOMI FASINA, DEFIED LAW AND INVITED CHAOS
Omowale Olusoji, Senior Correspondent.
Staff Intimidated as Foreign Students Invade Campus in a Council-Orchestrated “Welcome” for the Returning VC
Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Nigeria: A University in Crisis
The Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) is once again engulfed in controversy as its embattled Vice Chancellor, Professor Abayomi Sunday Fasina, staged a dramatic and questionable return to office after months of forced “research leave.”
This return, which occurred without any formal communication to the Senate, Council, or the wider university community, has sparked outrage among academic and administrative staff, who describe the event as “a coup against the university system.”
Even more alarming is the allegation that the Council Chairman, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), facilitated the VC’s return using external and foreign students to intimidate university staff, an action that many see as an abuse of authority and a breach of university statutes.
An Unprecedented “Research Leave"
In early 2025, amid mounting tensions and allegations of mismanagement, corruption, and administrative high-handedness, the embattled VC was asked to proceed on “research leave”, a decision that took both the university community and education stakeholders by surprise.
Unlike ordinary academic leave, which is regulated under Section 3(2)(a) of the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Act 2003, the concept of a “research leave” for a sitting Vice Chancellor is unknown in Nigerian university law or tradition.
Legal experts argue that the Council overstepped its bounds. “There’s no provision under the University Act that empowers a Council Chairman or even the Council itself to place a sitting Vice Chancellor on research leave,” says Dr Temidayo Ogunyemi, a lecturer in university governance. “It’s either that the VC is suspended, investigated, or removed with the Visitor’s approval. Anything else is administrative fiction.”
Return Through the Backdoor
According to insider sources, the embattled VC’s leave expired on October 14, 2025, but no formal meeting of the Governing Council was convened to discuss his reinstatement.
Neither the Senate, the university’s highest academic authority, nor the Council Secretariat received official communication regarding the expiration of the leave or any decision authorising his return.
Yet, on the morning of October 14, Professor Fasina resurfaced on campus in a dramatic convoy, waving to cheering students while most staff members were unaware of his reinstatement.
A Council member described the move as “a calculated ambush on the system.”
“The Council did not meet. The Senate was not informed. Even the Registrar, who should issue any official correspondence, was kept in the dark. The Chairman simply acted unilaterally,” the member disclosed.
This act runs afoul of Section 4(2) of the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, which clearly states that “decisions affecting the appointment, suspension, or reinstatement of principal officers shall be made by the Governing Council at a properly constituted meeting.”
The Deceptive “All-Staff Meeting”
In a twist that left the university community dumbfounded, the Council Chairman, Senator Ndoma-Egba, called for what he described as an “interactive meeting with all staff” on the same day. The meeting, held in the university’s main auditorium, was presented as a routine engagement with the Council.
Notice of Meeting from the Council Chairman through the Registrar
However, attendees soon realised that the event was a stage-managed welcoming ceremony for the returning VC.
Shockingly, the hall was filled not only with FUOYE students but also with students from other universities and external associations including the National Association of University Students (NAUS) and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), who were allegedly mobilised to pose as supporters of the Vice Chancellor.
Multiple witnesses recounted how these external students intimidated and harassed staff, brandishing canes, chanting war songs, and forcing some lecturers and administrative officers out of the hall.
“They flogged staff members like criminals,” one lecturer told our correspondent, her voice trembling. “It was an ambush. The so-called meeting was a disguise for chaos and intimidation.”
Council Chairman’s Absence Raises Questions
Interestingly, the Council Chairman himself did not attend the event. Instead, he sent a representative, a move many staff interpreted as an attempt to distance himself from the fallout while orchestrating the return behind the scenes.
Staff unions and senior academics accuse the Council Chairman of turning FUOYE into a private fiefdom, acting without consultation and violating every known governance norm.
“The Chairman behaves like a sole administrator,” a senior Senate member said. “He takes unilateral decisions, bypasses the council, and imposes his will on the university. This is contrary to the spirit of Section 7(1) of the University Act, which requires the Council to act in the best interest of the university and the Visitor.”
Foreign Students and Reckless Convoy
Videos circulating among staff and students show a shocking scene: students driving recklessly around the university, hoisting flags and chanting slogans in support of the VC, while Professor Fasina, standing in his open-roof jeep, hailed them triumphantly.
According to the university’s Code of Student Conduct, private vehicles are prohibited for undergraduate students within the main campus to ensure safety and order. Yet, on this day, cars and motorcycles filled the campus, with foreign and non-FUOYE students leading the charge.
“This is total lawlessness,” said an academic staff union member. “These outsiders invaded our campus, flouted our laws, and assaulted our dignity, and the Vice Chancellor, instead of stopping them, was celebrating it.”
A Breakdown of Governance
Observers have pointed out that the current situation represents a total breakdown of the university’s governance structure, in violation of multiple legal and ethical provisions:
Section 3(2)(b) of the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act: “The removal or reinstatement of a Vice Chancellor shall be by the Governing Council after due consultation with the Senate.”
Section 7(2): The Council must act “in accordance with the statutes and ordinances of the university.”
Code of Conduct for Council Members (2018): Members shall “uphold collective responsibility and avoid unilateral decisions or personal influence.”
By these standards, the Council Chairman’s conduct appears to have undermined due process, transparency, and institutional autonomy, the very principles the Act seeks to protect.
FUOYE’s Repeated Controversies
This is not the first time FUOYE has been mired in controversy. In recent years, the university has witnessed a string of administrative crises, including staff suspensions, student unrest, and allegations of financial irregularities under the same administration.
Sources say the current crisis could push the university to administrative collapse if urgent action is not taken.
“FUOYE has become a theatre of impunity,” said a retired professor who once served as a Dean. “No university can function where laws are ignored, staff are brutalised, and leadership is imposed by intimidation.”
Stakeholders Demand Intervention
Following the October 14 incident, several internal and external stakeholders have called on the President of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his capacity as Visitor to the University, to intervene decisively.
The Minister of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), and the Federal Ministry of Labour are also being urged to step in and restore order and integrity to the university.
“The situation in FUOYE is an embarrassment to the Nigerian university system,” said a representative of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). “The President must authorise a full investigation into the conduct of the Council and the VC, and if necessary, dissolve the current Council for incompetence and abuse of office.”
Editorial Reflection: When Universities Become Political Arenas
FUOYE’s current turmoil reflects a larger problem within Nigeria’s higher education system, the politicisation of university governance and the erosion of academic autonomy.
Universities are meant to be sanctuaries of learning, research, and moral leadership. When external influences, personal egos, and political manipulations override due process, the institution loses its soul.
A Vice Chancellor returning to power under the protection of outsiders and intimidation tactics represents not leadership, but tyranny. A Council Chairman who subverts collective governance for a personal agenda does not serve the university, he endangers it.
A Call to the Visitor
The Federal University Oye-Ekiti stands today at a crossroads. Will the rule of law and the principles of academic integrity prevail, or will the university succumb to the forces of impunity and personal power?
The nation watches, and the call is clear:
The Visitor, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must act now.
Through the Honourable Minister of Education and the NUC, he must ensure that the rule of law is restored, and that those who have brought shame and chaos upon this once-promising institution are held accountable.
Only then can FUOYE reclaim its dignity and fulfil its mandate as a centre of learning, not of lawlessness.
📰 Editor’s Note:
This investigation draws upon interviews with FUOYE staff, Council members, and academic stakeholders. Documentary evidence and videos reviewed by this newspaper corroborate eyewitness accounts of intimidation, reckless student conduct, and procedural irregularities.
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