“DR.ODOH BERNARD IFEANYI IS NOT AND HAS NEVER BEEN A STAFF OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY GUSAU” – BEING TEXT OF A PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE VICE CHANCHELLOR, FEDERAL UNIVERSITY GUSAU, PROFESSOR MU’AZU ABUBAKAR GUSAU ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2024

Gentlemen of the Press

It is my pleasure to welcome you to this press Conference.

Introduction

In the last two weeks, both the mainstream and new media in Nigeria have been awash with screaming headlines about the controversy surrounding the appointment of Dr. Odoh Bernard Ifeanyi as the Vice Chancellor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State by the Governing Council of the University.  Part of the issues that has generated serious attention is 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. 

Arising from the spurious claim, the Federal University Gusau, has been inundated with enquiries about the true status of Dr. Odoh Bernard Ifeanyi regarding: (a) his appointment as a tenured Professor in the Department of Geology; (b) grant of leave of absence and, (c) confirmation of appointment as a substantive professor by the Governing Council of the University.

In response to the public enquiry, the University management, after a thorough internal scrutiny, issued a disclaimer to the effect that Dr. Odoh was neither employed by the University nor appointed as a professor. However, despite the disclaimer, Dr. Odoh has been unrelenting, parading documents purportedly issued by the University as proof of his non-existent employment by the institution.  

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 own side of the story to stem further misinformation on the issue. 

The University Management, therefore, wishes to clarify as follows:

(a)           That appointment of staff, both academic and non-teaching, by the Federal University Gusau, is done based on laid down guidelines duly approved by the University’s Governing Council;

(b)          That part of the guidelines is that when an individual applies for employment, after vacancies are declared, the University’s registry scrutinizes such application upon which, if found to have met employment requirements, such an applicant, alongside others, is shortlisted and invited for interview;

(c)           That upon successful interview, such an applicant is issued an appointment letter, containing the terms and conditions of his appointment. One of such conditions is a written acceptance of the offer of appointment. Thereafter, the applicant proceeds to document his engagement, upon which he is posted to the relevant unit of the University to assume duty  as a staff;

(d)          In the case of Dr. Odoh Bernard Ifeanyi, the University notes as follows:

(i)                     That he did not submit any letter of acceptance of offer of appointment,

(ii)                   That he did not undergo the statutory documentation,

(iii)                  That even though Dr. Odoh was engaged as a Visiting  linkage staff in the Department of Geology of the University, and dubiously enrolled into the institution’s payroll from July 2014 to August 2015,  he neither assumed duty nor taught any course since the inception of the Department in the 2014/2015 academic session. The collection of salary  for job not done, amounts to an illegality and a breach of extant rules;

(iv)                  That he was not at any point in time, appointed as the pioneer Head of Department of Geology of the University, contrary to such unfounded claim, and,

(v)                    That there is no personal file related to the appointment of Dr. Odoh Bernard Ifeanyi in the custody of the University.

(e)          Meanwhile, the so-called letters of offer of tenure of appointment as Professor and confirmation of promotion to the post of Professor, dated 30th April 2015 and 12th November 2015, being paraded by Dr. Odoh Bernard Ifeanyi and purported to be certified true copies hurriedly endorsed by Ibrahim Bawa Kaura, former Registrar of the Federal University,  dated November 8, 2024, six solid years after the latter left the services of the Federal University Gusau, are products of administrative fraud orchestrated by  Dr. Odoh, working in cahoots with the former Vice Chancellor of the University and the Registrar.

(f)           For the sake of emphasis, assessment of candidates for professorial appointment, just as it is the case with all academic staff promotions, is procedural and begins from the Departmental Appointments and Promotions Committee (DA&PC) through the Faculty Appointments and Promotions Committee (FA&PC) to the Senior Staff Establishments Committee (SSEC). It is only after successfully going through these stages that a candidate’s paper are packaged and sent out to three external assessors. In the case of Dr. Odoh, no such procedure was followed as there is no record to that effect in the University. 

Even if for the sake of argument, we concede that Dr. Odoh’s papers were sent out, it is almost near impossible for the three assessors to turn in their reports between April 30th 2015 and November 12th 2015, when he procured the questionable promotion to the rank of professor. As a matter of fact, we have it on good authority that the first Governing Council rejected the former Vice Chancellor’s request for the ratification of Dr. Odoh’s dubious promotion.

 Furthermore, shortly after being allegedly offered appointment, Dr. Odoh proceeded on leave of absence, a privilege that can only be extended to a confirmed staff of the University after the statutory probation period.

(g)           What is apparent from the foregoing, is that everything about Dr. Odoh’s   purported offer of appointment as tenure staff and confirmation of promotion as professor is shady, fraudulent, utterly devoid of due process and smacks of illegality as there is no evidence of official documentation with regards to his controversial employment as a staff of the Federal University Gusau. 

The whole charade was packaged and executed by the former Vice Chancellor and the former Registrar, without recourse to extant rules and due process for reasons not known to law and commonsense.

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.  

  Conclusion

In conclusion, the Management of the Federal University Gusau, wishes to state in unequivocal terms that from available records, Dr. Odoh Bernard Ifeanyi is not and has never been a tenure staff of the University, let alone being confirmed as a Professor by the institution. 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, through subterfuge. 

Thank you.