The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has launched an investigation into alleged salary fraud committed by Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE).
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This follows a letter of reminder written to EFCC Chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa by an Ado-Ekiti-based Legal Practitioner, Hon. ’Bayo Idowu, Esq., of Joseph Chambers.
Dated 14th September, 2022 with reference number HB/OS/09/156/22, the letter was titled “Reminder on Petition Against Professor Abayomi Sunday Fasina and Our Demand for Thorough Investigation, Disciplinary Action and Prosecution”.
An EFCC official confirmed the receipt of the reminder petition on Monday, September 26. “We have received the petition and that the commission is working on it,” the EFCC official said from the commission’s head office in Abuja.
The reminder petition reads in part:
“The above matter refers. We refer to our letter dated 14th August, 2020 with reference: HBIC/119/08/20 in respect of collection of double salaries in both Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria and the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria simultaneously for the following months viz: October 2016; November 2017; December 2016; January 2017; February 2017 and September 2017.
“The said petition was covered by the provisions of relevant laws and explicitly stated in our earlier letter.
“This reminder is due to the publication in the New Telegraph daily newspaper titled “EFCC, FUOYE Clear Fasina of Alleged Misconduct.” Sir, we were bewildered with the publication because there was no time we were invited to give our testimony regarding the matter and more so it is not part of our administration of criminal justice system for criminal matters to be settled by mere invitation of the suspects by the EFCC without investigation and prosecution especially in this case where allegations of receiving double salaries was established against Professor Abayomi Sunday Fasina.
“We have the regret to inform you that Professor Abayomi Sunday Fasina that committed the said criminal act and misconduct that is punishable under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended) and the extant Public Service Rules, 2009 is now the Vice-Chancellor, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.
“To this end, we await your thorough and discreet investigation as well as your response and invitation regarding the petition.”
News Express reports that trouble began for Prof. Fasina when the Legal Counsel, Hon. ’Bayo Idowu, wrote a letter to Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti (EKSU) in 2020, demanding for his payslips for the months of October to December 2016, as well as those of January to February 2017 and September 2017. The university acceded to the demand of the Legal Counsel in a letter dated 9th July, 2020, signed by Mr. Akin Arogundade, former Registrar and Secretary to the EKSU Council.
According to a source familiar with the matter, “another petition was written against Prof. Fasina when it was discovered that the circumstances that led to his exit in EKSU were questionable and that he received double salaries at EKSU and FUOYE in the above-mentioned months simultaneously. The title of the petition to Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti is ‘Petition against Professor Abayomi Sunday Fasina and our demand for thorough investigation and disciplinary action. The above-mentioned two letters were also written to the Federal University Oye-Ekiti.”
Available records show that EKSU acceded to the demand of the Legal Counsel via a letter dated 28th October, 2020 with reference number, VC/P-4A/vol.IX/82, while the management of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) hired a Legal Counsel to respond to the demand of ’Bayo Idowu.
The committee set up by EKSU to review the report on the petition against Prof. Fasina wrote to invite the Legal Counsel via a letter dated 2nd February, 2021 and signed by the Secretary to the committee, Mrs Ade-Ojo, R.T.B. The committee stated that Prof. Fasina and others that were relevant to the matter would also appear before it.
The Counsel appeared before the above-mentioned committee chaired by Prof. S. O. Kolawole on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, while Prof. Fasina, who is currently the FUOYE Vice-Chancellor and formerly an employee of EKSU, appeared before the committee on February 16, 2021.
A letter dated 16th May, 2021 and signed by Mr. Akin Arogundade, then EKSU Registrar and Secretary to the Council, titled “Re-Withdrawal of Service from Ekiti State University” said the management considered the report submitted to it on the petition against Prof. Fasina.
The report reads in part: “(a) Having established that you did not disengage properly from Ekiti State University, you should be made to do so. (b) You should be compelled to pay six months’ salary in lieu of notice to the University since you may no longer be able to give six months notice. (c) You should also pay to the coffers of the University the September, 2017 salaries paid to your UBA account. (d) After the payments in (b) and (c) above, you can process your disengagement and clearance from the University. (e) After completing the signing of your clearance formalities, the University would proceed to process your transfer of service to Federal University Oye-Ekiti.
“The decisions of Management of Ekiti State University, are hereby communicated to you, accordingly.”
Prof. Fasina came to FUOYE in the year 2015 as a sabbatical staff from Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti and became a tenured staff of FUOYE in the year 2017 without returning to his previous university.
He did first sabbatical leave at FUOYE from January 2, 2015 to December 31, 2015. He used his accumulated leave at EKSU for his second sabbatical leave at FUOYE from January 4, 2016 to September 22, 2016.
Prof. Fasina wrote a letter of resumption from sabbatical leave at FUOYE back to EKSU on September 23, 2017, “but continued to receive two salaries in both EKSU and FUOYE from October 2016 to February 2017 and September 2017 under false pretence,” according to university records.
