By ABDULKABIR MUHAMMED

The Centre for Social Policy and Labour Research has charged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) to conduct an independent investigation into a sexual harassment case involving the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), Professor Abayomi Fasina, and the university’s former Director of Works Department, Engineer (Mrs) Folasade Adebayo.

In a recent Open Letter signed by the National Coordinator, Biodun Olamosu, the Centre for Policy and Labour, the centre said it was necessary to “draw the attention of Your Excellency to the grievous allegation of sexual harassment made against Professor Abayomi Fasina, the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Oye Ekiti, by a senior staff of the University in person of the former director (deputy) of Works Department of the University, Engineer (Mrs) Folasade Adebayo.”

The Centre for Social Policy and Labour Research argued that the Vice Chancellor had been using his office to intimidate the engineer. The letter reads in part:

“The allegation of sexual harassment by Engineer (Mrs) Folasade Adebayo against his boss, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Abayomi Fasina, has caused her untold hardship upon her resistance against such unholy overture. She has since then being made to suffer series of intimidation that included being harassed, ridiculed and put to shame by the Vice Chancellor at the Management meetings in the presence of other management officers of the University for this reason.

“At other time, she was stripped naked and relieved of her official position as the Director of Works Department to an ordinary senior staff and thereafter transferred to Ikole campus of the University, where she is to have not much to do. This way of intimidation has caused the poor woman depression, a bountiful devastating situation of her health condition as a result of having sleepless nights caused by the oppression she was subjected to.”

While the group acknowledged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s intervention in the debacle, they alleged that the mediation by the University’s Governing Council was manipulative and lacked reliability. They said:

“We are not unaware of Your Excellency’s intervention in calling on the University’s Council to wade into the matter. This we consider instructive and proper thing to do as it is within the prerogative of the Council to intervene and decisively too.

“The University Council that is expected to be an unbiased umpire and adjudicate fairly on the matter unfortunately decided to take side on the part of the Vice Chancellor, Professor Abayomi Fasina. The misdemeanours on the part of the University Council are obvious in the way the Council approached conducting investigation on the matter.”