FUTA staff protest against release of VC, bursar by EFCC

• Authorities describe protest as baseless
• ASUU dissociates self from protest

The release of the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Prof Adebiyi Daramola, and the school’s bursar, Mr. Emmanuel Oresegun, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) sparked a protest on campus, with the disgruntled workers asking for the duo’s sack.

Pronto, the school’s management says the workers were simply being misguided, and the protest, baseless.

The protesters, comprising of academic and non-academic staff, went round the campus with placards, demanding that Daramola and Oresegun be sacked and docked for financial impropriety.

They decried the immediate release of the two principal officers, insisting that the anti-graft commission must conduct painstaking
investigations into all the allegations leveled against them.

The workers demanded the resignation of the two principal officers, pending when investigations by the EFCC would be concluded, maintaining that their continuous stay in office could circumvent the investigations.

Meanwhile authorities of the university have exonerated Daramola and Oresegun of any financial impropriety, saying the protest was baseless.

Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the university, Mr. Adegbenro Adebanjo, while reacting to the protest, stressed that the two officers were not involved in any misappropriation of funds, which would have necessitated their arrest by the EFCC.

Adegbenro further stressed that the duo were neither involved in any criminal act, or abuse of office, insisting that such allegations were an attempt to malign their exalted offices.

He said Daramola, alongside the bursar, were not arrested, but invited by the commission to provide information over issues relating to their stewardship.

“As part of its statutory responsibilities, the EFCC invited the vice chancellor to provide clarification over issues relating to his stewardship in the university over a period of time.

“The vice chancellor as a law abiding citizen, duly honoured the invitation, and he cooperated with the commission by providing the needed clarification and he was allowed to return to Akure the same day. The vice chancellor has maintained that he has no fear or hindrance in rendering the report of his stewardship whenever he is called upon to do so officially or unofficially, since he has nothing to hide.”

While the Students’ Union Government (SUG) of the institution condemned the protest by the non-academic staff, describing it as barbaric and uncivilised, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) dissociates its members from the protest.

According to the students, “the actions and display of FUTA SSANU, NASU and NAAT under a joint body named JAC is totally condemned in its entirety. It is an action against the collective and progressive interest of the development in FUTA.”

Chairman of ASUU-FUTA Branch, Mr. Bola Oniya, on his part condemned the action of the irate unions insisting that his union was not party to the protest, which he said was embarked upon by three non-academic unions.