Federal University Gusau Disowns Sacked UNIZIK Vice-Chancellor Bernard Odoh

• The management of Federal University Gusau (FUGUS) has disowned Bernard Odoh, the recently sacked Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), denouncing his claims of a professorship at FUGUS as fraudulent
• FUGUS officials stated that documents provided by Odoh to prove his academic credentials were products of administrative fraud and not legally tenable
• The university affirmed that Odoh was never a staff member, further discrediting his claims amidst ongoing controversies

The management of the Federal University, Gusau (FUGUS), has officially disowned Bernard Odoh, the recently sacked Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), commonly known as UNIZIK.

Odoh was removed from his position three weeks after his appointment due to controversies surrounding his recruitment process and academic profile.

Professorship Controversy

Mr. Odoh had claimed that he was appointed as a visiting professor at FUGUS in 2014 and was promoted to the rank of full professor of applied geophysics in 2015.

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However, FUGUS management has dismissed these documents as fraudulent.

In a statement on Thursday, the FUGUS Registrar, Yakubu Anivbassa, described the documents as "products of administrative fraud" orchestrated by Odoh in collusion with the former vice-chancellor and registrar.

Anivbassa stated:

"(The documents) are products of administrative fraud orchestrated by Dr. Odoh, working in cahoots with the former vice chancellor of the university and the (then) registrar (Bawa), as there is no official record of Dr. Odoh’s employment in the custody of the university."

Anivbassa further emphasized that the so-called certified true copies of Odoh’s documents failed to meet the requirements of the Evidence Act, 2011, and were thus legally untenable.

Invalid Certification

The FUGUS registrar highlighted that Mr. Bawa, having left the university’s services in 2018, had no authority to certify any official documents on behalf of the university.

"Therefore, the so-called certified true copies of Dr. Odoh’s documents relating to his alleged employment as endorsed by Ibrahim Bawa Kaura on November 8, 2024, are illegal, criminal, null and void and of no effect whatsoever," Anivbassa stated.

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No Employment Record

The university reiterated that Odoh was never a staff member of FUGUS. Anivbassa stated, "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."

He added that Odoh's claims were attempts to leverage the university’s name for his ambition to become the Vice-Chancellor of UNIZIK.

Sacked UNIZIK VC Breaks Silence

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Bernard Odoh, the recently removed vice-chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka, has spoken out against his dismissal, asserting that the Federal Ministry of Education lacks the authority to sack him.

NAU, commonly known as UNIZIK, is a federal university in the South-eastern state of Anambra.

Source: Legit.ng