By Oyinkansayo Wole-Bodunde.
The Federal University, Gusau (FUGUS) in Zamfara State has publicly disassociated itself from Bernard Ifeanyi Odoh, the recently sacked Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) in Anambra State.
Professor Muazu Abubakar, the Vice Chancellor of FUGUS, clarified that Odoh was neither employed by the university nor appointed as a professor.
The controversy surrounding Odoh’s appointment as Vice Chancellor of UNIZIK has been ongoing for weeks. One of the major issues is Odoh’s claim that he was offered a tenure appointment and confirmed as a professor by FUGUS. However, the university has thoroughly investigated these claims and found them to be completely false.
According to Professor Abubakar, the university has been inundated with enquiries about Odoh’s status regarding his appointment as a tenured professor in the Department of Geology, grant of leave of absence, and confirmation of appointment as a substantive professor by the Governing Council of the University.
In response to the public enquiry, the university management issued a disclaimer stating that Odoh was neither employed by the university nor appointed as a professor. Despite this, Odoh has continued to parade documents purportedly issued by the university as proof of his non-existent employment.
Professor Abubakar stated, “The widely circulated misinformation by Dr. Odoh has no doubt raised serious concerns about the credibility and reputation of the Federal University, Gusau. Consequently, the University Management has decided to go public to tell its side of the story and stem further misinformation on the issue.”
The university has also revealed that the documents Odoh is parading are “products of administrative fraud” orchestrated by Odoh himself, in collaboration with the former Vice Chancellor and Registrar of the university.
The documents in question include letters of offer of professorship and confirmation of promotion to the post of professor dated April 30, 2015, and November 12, 2015. These documents were purportedly certified as true copies by Ibrahim Bawa Kaura, the former Registrar of the Federal University, Gusau, on November 8, 2024, six years after he left the university’s services.
Professor Abubakar explained that the whole charade was packaged and executed by the former Vice Chancellor and the former Registrar. “Further proof of the desperation to perpetuate such illegality is the impersonation and usurpation of the duties of the current Registrar of the University by the former Registrar, Ibrahim Bawa Kaura, who procured a fake stamp to certify Dr. Odoh’s equally fake documents as true copies on November 8, 2024, six years after his disengagement from the university.”
The management of FUGUS has reiterated that, from available records, Odoh Bernard Ifeanyi is not and has never been a tenured staff of the university. Professor Abubakar stated, “Whatever claim to the contrary by Dr. Odoh is nothing but the antics of a drowning man who is hell-bent on using the good name of the Federal University Gusau, to give vent to his desperate ambition to become the Vice Chancellor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka.”
