ASUU demands probe of N5m bribe allegedly collected by LASU Director

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Lagos State University (LASU) chapter, has called for a probe into a N5 million fraud allegedly committed by a senior official to facilitate processing of results by the university’s Senate.
ASUU wants the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, to investigate the N5 million allegedly collected by a former Assistant Director, School of Part-time Studies.
In a petition with reference no. LASU/GS/16/268 and dated March 26, the academic staff members are asking the authorities to launch an investigation into the matter without further delay.
The union alleged that the N5million was collected by the former Director from the Vice-Chairman of the then Anthony Campus of the institution.
According to ASUU, a panel under the Chairmanship of Prof. Murtada Muhibbu-Din was set up under the administration of a former Vice-Chancellor, Prof. L.A. Hussein in 2005 to probe the activities of the part-time school and had submitted its findings.
“The Vice-Chairman of the Anthony Campus, Mr C. Ochonogor, during the visit of the panel on May 10, 2006 had alleged that Dr
Abanikannda as the Assistant Director of the campus made a lot of financial demands to do one thing or the other.
“Ochonogor unequivocally mentioned the case of N5 million collected in cash by Dr Abanikannda to give to the LASU Senate to
facilitate the consideration and approval of results.
“Eventually, the results were not presented to the Senate and the money was not refunded.
“The Vice-Chairman, for emphasis, told the panel that the Anthony Campus had three sets of final year students who could not graduate
even after the collection of the N5million,’’ the union said.
According to ASUU-LASU, the former Assistant Director in question had admitted collecting the said sum in cash during an interrogation
from the panel and the panel recommended that he should refund the sum.
It insisted that such demand for money to facilitate the Senate’s processing of students results was against the university’s rules as it is the statutory duty of the Senate to do so.
“We urge Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Fagbohun, while being passionate on clearing backlog of misappropriation cases of such to use his
good offices for proper investigation and conclusion of the case.
“This is because members of the university community continue to refer to this matter at every instance when staff members are
disciplined,’’ ASUU said in the petition.
Reacting, the university’s spokesman, Mr Adekoya Martins, confirmed the receipt of the petition by the management.
Martins said the issue happened long before the present administration and might have been disposed of by the university council.
He said that a critical examination of the petition showed that the case had gone through one sub-committee to another before it reached
the council.
LASU Governing Council had on September 8, 2017 approved the dismissal of ASUU-LASU Chiarman, Dr Isaac Oyewunmi, his Deputy, Dr Adebowale Adeyemi-Suenu and 15 others.
It also dismissed two other non-academic staff over what it called misconduct and malpractice.
According to the university council, Oyewunmi was dismissed over alleged demand for the sum of N50, 000 for 2003 modular year
students of political science education of the sandwich programme to process their results.
The council claimed Adeyemi-Suenu unilaterally altered the results of 12 students already advised to withdraw by the Senate in the
Department of History and International studies in the 2015/2016 academic session.
Others were accused of defaulting on the conditions precedent on their training leave bond and abandonment of duty.