The newly appointed Vice-Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State, Prof. Tomola Obamuyi, will officially assume duties as the seventh substantive Vice-Chancellor of the state-owned institution on July 8, 2026.

Obamuyi will take over the reins of the university from outgoing Vice Chancellor Prof. Olugbenga Ige, whose five-year tenure officially concludes on July 7, 2026.

According to a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Victor Akinpelumi, the appointment of Obamuyi was approved by Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa, who is the visitor to the university, following an intensive selection exercise.

Akinpelumi emphasised that the professor of finance emerged as the preferred candidate among a competitive field of 15 accomplished academics who appeared before the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board during the appointment process.

The statement read in parts, “A professor of finance with over three decades of academic experience, Professor Obamuyi holds a PhD in management science from the Federal University of Technology, Akure (2005), and a certificate in financial technology from the New York University Stern School of Business (2019).

“He has supervised 34 M.Sc. and PhD candidates to completion and served as an external examiner for 223 postgraduate oral examinations across Nigeria, South Africa, and India. He has also been an external assessor for 88 professorial appointments in various universities.

“His administrative pedigree is equally impressive. A founding stakeholder of AAUA since its transition in December 1999, he has served as acting head of the Department of Banking and Finance and director of linkages and international programmes at AAUA.

“He later became the first substantive dean of the School of Management Technology at FUTA (2015–2019) and director of the University Advancement Centre (2019–2022). He has also held visiting professorships at the University of Lagos, Lagos State University of Science and Technology, and Redeemer’s University, Ede.

“Professor Obamuyi has attracted and executed numerous research grants, including TETFund National Research Fund projects, USAID-sponsored studies, and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) commissioned by Babson College, USA.

“He is the author of over 80 scholarly publications and has presented papers at international conferences across 13 countries, including the UK, USA, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Ethiopia, India, and Singapore.

“His scholarly excellence has earned him the prestigious award of “Best Professor of Banking and Finance in Africa” by the Africa Education Leadership Awards in Mauritius (2015). In 2018, he delivered the 99th Inaugural Lecture at FUTA, titled “Finance, Entrepreneurship and Institutions: The Triple Helix for Nigeria’s Economic Growth”. A Festschrift was published in his honour in 2019.

“Professor Obamuyi is a Fellow of the Association of Entrepreneurship Scholars (AES) and the Nigerian Society for Financial Research and holds professional membership in the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (Honorary Senior Member), the Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered), the Fintech Association of Nigeria, and other reputable bodies.

“The university warmly welcomes Professor Obamuyi as a visionary scholar-administrator whose global exposure, research depth, and institutional memory are expected to further advance AAUA’s trajectory of excellence.