Governor Ayodele Fayose has condemned the Buhari administration for sacking Vice Chancellors of some universities saying it is an affront to the rules guiding the creation of such institutions.
Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose again on Thursday condemned the Buhari administration for sacking Vice Chancellors of some universities saying it is an affront to the rules guiding the creation of such institutions.
The governor said this at his Oke Bareke, Ado Ekiti office while receiving the new Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), Prof. Kayode Soremekun who resumed office Thursday.
Prof. Soremekun who said protocol and propriety demands as an African man to pay courtesy call to governor Fayose as the number one citizen of Ekiti State on his arrival to Ekiti.
He stressed that though he’s yet to be fully briefed about happenings in the school, he knows there are one or two outstanding issues between the institution and the state government among which are payment of compensation to the host communities by the university as well as payment of taxes to the government.
Prof. Soremekun however asked for understanding on these and other issues as they crop up.
Welcoming the VC and his entourage to the fountain of knowledge, governor Ayodele Fayose expressed happiness in having him around, he wished him a successful tenure with the promise to avail him all that is needed to make a success of his new assignment.
“We do not see the Federal Government as the owner of the university, it belongs to Ekiti people, it is part of our own benefit as a federating unit, it will be jealously preserved, we will jealously collaborate with you to succeed”, governor Fayose said.
Taking a swipe on President Buhari for the recent sack of 13 VCs of federal universities founded by the Jonathan administration, governor Fayose said:
“There is difference between service and blackmail, it will interest you that since the creation of Ekiti, no VC has successfully completed his tenure until this last one, I inherited but I never sacked, it will interest you that the last provost (of college of Education, Ikere Ekiti) will be the first provost to complete her tenure, they were always sacked by succeeding administrations which is illegal and unconstitutional.
“It is against laid down procedure, irrespective of the beneficiary of such action today, the president must be condemned for sacking the vice chancellors, it is not known to the law of the universities, it is unfair, it is not right.
“I am a very clear Nigerian, a lot of people sack for political reasons, we should not do that, we are political heads, we should allow this institutions to survive us, we should allow this institutions to catch up with the test of time. University communities are guided by laid down rules, we should give recourse to laws that sets up this institutions”.
Reiterating that the payment of taxes by FUOYE and other institutions in Ekiti remains germane, Fayose urged the new VC to ensure taxes due the state are remitted to the state coffers as and when due.
The Vice Chancellor’s entourage included the deputy vice chancellor, Prof. Raphael Ajayi Omolehin, the registrar, Biodun Adeyemo, the university librarian, Dr. Gboyega, the school bursar, Mr. Bashiru Badmus, a director in the university, Mr. Olatunbosun Odusanya, the PRO, Mr. Chris amongst others.
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