Babcock University has dismissed reports alleging a sex scandal involving one of its vice-chancellor candidates, describing the publication as false and malicious.

The institution has also threatened legal action against those it accused of attempting to tarnish its image.

Reacting to an online publication dated September 12, 2025, which claimed that a group called the Apostles Seventh-Day Adventist Advocacy Group opposed the candidacy of Professor (Pastor) Afolarin Olutunde Ojewole on grounds of alleged sexual misconduct, the university said neither it nor its proprietors, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, recognized the group or its supposed coordinator, Elder Samson Fasasi.

In a statement, the university’s Director of Marketing and Communications, Dr. Joshua Suleiman, described the allegations as “baseless, fabricated, mischievous, and malicious.”

“As far as the university is concerned, these names and individuals are fictitious and discredited self-seekers masquerading under an unregistered outfit. It is disappointing that a platform that calls itself a media house would associate with such faceless miscreants,” Suleiman said.

The statement further clarified that Prof. Ojewole, a former Associate Vice President for Spiritual Life of the university, had never been accused, dismissed, or sanctioned for sexual misconduct during his tenure.

His leave of absence in 2018, the statement added, was duly processed for family reasons and not as a cover-up for any wrongdoing.

“It is out of sensible conjecture that an employee who allegedly resigned to cover up misconduct would later be considered for the highest office of the same university,” the statement read.

The university emphasized that the ongoing search for a new Vice-Chancellor was not a political process or subject to manipulation but a “sacred and spiritual exercise” grounded in merit, moral uprightness, and service.

It also rejected insinuations that the outgoing Vice-Chancellor influenced the process to favour a particular candidate, describing such claims as a “figment of the imagination.”

Babcock University reaffirmed that its 2025 Governing Council Search Committee was operating under the highest ethical standards, in line with the global policies of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which owns and operates more than 118 universities worldwide.

“Those behind this defamatory act are sternly warned to desist. Should this reckless conduct persist, the university will pursue appropriate legal redress,” the statement warned.

The institution urged all candidates and their supporters to refrain from propaganda, blackmail, or falsehood in the ongoing leadership transition and assured stakeholders, including students, staff, alumni, parents, and the general public, that the appointment process remains transparent, fair, and merit-driven.

“Babcock University’s legacy of moral integrity, spiritual depth, and academic excellence will never be compromised,” the statement concluded.