The seeming furore generated over the tenure extension of Osun State University (UNIOSUN) Vice Chancellor, Professor Clement Odunayo Adebooye, by Governor Ademola Adeleke, was on Thursday laid to rest as the state legislature passed an amendment Act which officially approved the governor’s action.

It is recalled that the development had triggered varied reactions as some stakeholders kicked against the tenure extension, citing UNIOSUN Establishment Act, which only empowers the state governor to elongate the institution bursar, registrar and librarian tenure by one year.

Confirming the passage of amendment to The Guardian, the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Olamide Tiamiyu, said “it is true that the amendment Act had been passed by the House today.”

While Adeleke had defended his decision to extend Adebooye’s tenure, attributing it to his sterling performance since assumption of office, some sections of the university were divided over the development.

Reacting to the development, the chairman of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), UNIOSUN branch, Comrade John Adebayo, said in Adeleke’s perception as the Visitor of the university, “Our VC had performed very well, and we all know that.”

According to him, “Professor Adebooye had performed exceedingly well and has done so much. I believe that is the perspective the Governor is looking at, and he wants him to sustained university’s good work.

“However, the establishment law is very clear. At our level as a union, we are watching the situation. SSANU is watching the situation. The university is governed by law, edicts and acts, so we are studying the situation.

“This is a state university with its own law, though it must align with other laws governing the administration, establishment and operations of universities in Nigeria.Now that the House of Assembly has completed the amendment, we are looking at it and studying the situation.

“At our end, we cannot say the House should not do its work. We are not members of the House of Assembly, neither are we the Visitor to the University. The Visitor has certain rights and powers, and the House of Assembly has its own duties. We are not saying we are against the House of Assembly or the Governor.

“But we are still appraising the situation. We will sit, deliberate, and we will let the whole world know our decision and our stand, ” Adebayo remarked.

Also speaking, the chairman of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), UNIOSUN branch, Dr Wende Olaosebikan, disclosed that Adebooye’s tenure extension was discussed at Union’s congress on Tuesday.

He stated, “We studied critically the UNIOSUN Establishment Law, which did not give room for extension of tenure for the Vice Chancellor. The Law gives room for extension of one year to the university’s Liberian, the bursar and the registrar.

“But that privilege excludes that of the Vice Chancellor. We also studied the University’s Mycelinus Act of the National Assembly and NUC. That Act does not give room for extension of any period to any principal officer in the university.

And our action is based on that condition. Meanwhile, as a body of intellectuals, we don’t want to act on hearsay or media reports. We want to confirm first that our Vice Chancellor wishes that he knows the right thing to do. And we believe very seriously that he will do the right thing.

“Yes, It is also still at the realm of rumor. But when it is confirmed, our union has a way of reacting to such a thing. We have a way of reacting to such a thing. So we don’t react on rumors,We react on facts and figures. Our actions will be guided by those facts and figures, and consultations and the opinions of our elders on it,” Olaosebikan posited.