Management of the Federal University Gusau in Zamfara State, North-West Nigeria, has distanced itself from claim by the sacked Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, UNIZIK, Dr. Odoh Bernard Ifeanyi that he was promoted to the rank of Professor by the institution.
In what the University management tagged emergency media briefing, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Muazu Abubakar, refuted that Dr Odoh was not a confirmed teaching staff of the University and neither was he promoted to the rank of a professor by the institution.
Professor Abubakar, said that the letters allegedly bearing Dr. Odoh’s appointment and confirmation as a professor dated April 30, 2015, and November 12, 2015 are “products of administrative fraud.”
According to him, these documents, purportedly certified by the former Registrar of the University, Ibrahim Kaura, were dated November 8, 2024 which was six years after Kaura had left the University, and described the former Registrar’s action as an impersonation.
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Professor Abubakar further observed that recent media reports have been awash with controversies surrounding Odoh’s tenure as the Vice Chancellor of UNIZIK, particularly his claim that he was offered tenure and confirmed as a professor at Federal University, Gusau.
He stressed that part of the issue which has generated serious attention was the misleading and unfounded claim by Dr. Odoh that he was offered a tenure appointment and confirmed as a professor by the Federal University, Gusau and this prompted the management to investigate the matter thoroughly to ascertain the true position.
The University Vice-Chancellor said in response to public enquiries, the University management, after a thorough internal scrutiny had issued a disclaimer to the effect that Dr. Odoh was neither employed by the university nor promoted to the rank of a professor by the Institution.
Professor Abubakar also maintained that there was no evidence of official documentation supporting Odoh’s claim of employment or promotion to the rank of a professor in the University.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
