ASUU, VC tackle Olawoyin over UNIOSUN’s chiefs’ suspension

The Academic Staff Union of Universities is set for a showdown with the Chairman of the Osun State University Governing Council, Prof. Gabriel Olawoyin, over the suspension of the Vice Chancellor of the varsity, Prof. Basir Okesina.
Olawoyin had accused Okesina, the Bursar  and the Registrar  of UNIOSUN of fraud and nepotism, handing the trio varying terms of suspension as a fallout of these allegations.
But the National President of ASUU, Prof. Nasir Fagge, in an address read on his behalf by the Chairman of ASUU, Ibadan zone, Prof. Segun Ajiboye, at a press conference in Osogbo on Saturday, called for the reversal of the vice chancellor’s suspension.
The national leadership of ASUU also accused the chairman of the governing council of victimising lecturers in the university, pledging to protect their members in the institution from harassment and intimidation.
The union condemned the setting up of an investigative panel by the chairman of the UNIOSUN Governing Council to probe those he accused of impropriety, saying it was unnecessary because the Visitor to the university, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, had already set up a visitation panel to probe activities in the varsity.
The National Treasurer of the ASUU, Dr. Ademola Aremu, also called on the governor to pay workers of the university their outstanding salaries.
He said it was not good that lecturers were being owned two months salaries.
Aremu noted that it would be impossible for workers to give their best when their welfare was not paramount to their employers.
Olawoyin declined comment when he was contacted on the telephone by our correspondent.
He said, “I am not interested in any newspaper interview. I won’t discuss UNIOSUN on the pages of newspapers. If they feel they have been wronged, they know what to do.”
The vice chancellor confirmed his suspension to our correspondent on the telephone.
He said, “The chairman of council  wrote a petition  to the governor against me. He called council meeting, where he discussed it and he is the one investigating the allegations. The same man is doing everything, you can imagine that.
“He signed my letter of suspension; it was supposed to be signed by the Secretary to the council. He appointed an acting vice chancellor, appointed acting bursar and acting registrar and has taken over the running of the university.”