Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) has suspended its Bursar, Mrs Bolatito Akande, over alleged misconduct.
Special Adviser on Media Matters to the Vice-Chancellor, Mr Wole Balogun, confirmed the suspension in a statement on Sunday in Ado-Ekiti.
Balogun said that the bursar was suspended by the university’s Governing Council, chaired by Dr Mohammed Yahuza, to give room for thorough investigation into misconducts allegedly committed by Akande.
He, however, denied the allegation that Akande was prevented from entering her office, saying that all the security men deployed were at the institution’s gate and could not have stopped her from entering her office.
“The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Fasina, is a law-abiding citizen and could not have supported brigandage. It is not true that the bursar was harassed.
“Let me clear the air that the security men were deployed at the gate due to the ongoing probe. They were there to maintain law and order,” Balogun said.
He further said that the suspension slammed on the bursar was to allow unfettered probe into the allegations raised against her, adding that she had not been sacked, as being rumoured.
In her reaction, Akande, however, accused the university management of using security agencies to chase and harass her after being ‘illegally’ suspended.
Akande, who was until May 7, the bursar of the institution, said it was regrettable that the security personnel, allegedly deployed by the vice-chancellor, prevented her from entering her office, in spite of not being found culpable of any offence.
She explained that Personal Assistant to the vice-chancellor sent a message to her last week, inundating her of a petition written against her by the Joint Action Committee and that a panel had been set up by the management to probe into all the allegations raised.
Akande said that she found it demeaning, humiliating and dehumanising that she was harassed by security personnel while trying to gain access to her office on Thursday.
According to her, such actions shouldn’t exist in any higher institution of learning.
“A text message was sent to me last Wednesday by one Abayomi Kuku that I was to appear before a panel of investigation on Thursday by 11 am.
“I honoured them and immediately I left the venue of the panel and got back to my office, I met two security men at the entrance and I discovered that my office had been locked. The two men informed me that the order was from above.
“I put a call to the vice-chancellor to confirm the development but he told me that he never knew anything about it and that I should contact the Chief Security Officer of the institution.
“All my belongings, including the hand bag that I brought to the office on that day, were locked inside the office.
”As I’m talking to you now, they are still inside the office, as they didn’t allow me to have access to the office,” she said.
Akande also added that no letter was given to her by the institution’s management, except the one sent to her by the personal assistant to the vice-chancellor.
“In fact, I was chased out of office like a child and a low ranking officer. This I found unlawful, embarrassing and dehumanising,” she stated.
The letter sent to the suspended bursar’s phone, dated May 5 and signed by the vice chancellor, was entitled: “Suspension from the university.”
The letter reads: “You will please note that the university’s Governing Council, at the 23rd statutory meeting, held on Thursday, April 1, 2021, considered the allegations levied against you and the registrar by the joint Action Committee of SSANU, NASU and NAAT.
“It, thereafter, decided that a copy of the unions’ petition should be forwarded to you for your response.
“However, the council, at its 4th extraordinary meeting, held on April 27, 2021, considered your response to the allegation and consequently constituted an investigative committee to investigate the case.
“In line with the regulation governing the conditions of service, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of council has directed that your appointment be suspended from the university with half salary with immediate effect, pending the determination of the case against you”.
