Governor Ademola Adeleke Tuesay sacked the rector of Osun State Polytechnic, Dr. Kola Odetayo. He was immediately replaced with Kehinde Alabi. However, an Islamic human rights advocacy group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has condemned the rector’s sack and demanded his immediate and unconditional reinstatement.
A statement issued on Wednesday, 26th July, 2023 by the Executive Director of the Muslim group, Professor Ishaq Akintola, described the rector’s sack as an anomaly, a gross aberration and one act of impunity too many.
The full statement reads : “Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State yesterday sacked the rector of the state’s polytechnic, Dr. Kola Odetayo. He was immediately replaced with Mr. Kehinde Alabi Adeyemi who is from Ede, the same town with the governor.
“MURIC totally condemns Governor Adeleke’s action. It is an anomaly, a gross aberration and one act of impunity too many. The appointment of Kehinde Alabi Adeyemi is an abuse of due process because, ceteris paribus, the deputy rector should be the next choice when a rector is removed according to the polytechnic’s rules.
“The governor had wanted the sacked rector to influence the election which was held to pick the deputy rector to favour his kinsman, but this was impossible as his kinsman was unpopular. He scored 9 in the election and came third behind Oyeleke who scored 51 and was declared winner and deputy rector.
“Instead of the governor to ratify this election and approve the appointment of the winner as deputy rector, he raked trumped up charges against the rector, sacked him and picked the man who came third in the election as rector. Who does that?
“The man who won the election and became the deputy rector should have been made to act as rector if indeed the latter had to be suspended. But the governor bent over backwards to pick the man who came third. This is an exhibition of vested interest. Adeleke is a tyrannical ruler. He will plunge Osun into unimaginable crisis.
“Already, the polytechnic is boiling. Students are protesting against the governor’s erratic choice. The association of polytechnic lecturers have also declared an industrial dispute based on the governor’s disregard for the result of their election. By bypassing the result of a properly, freely and democratically conducted election, Adeleke has exposed himself as an enemy of democracy, a dictator and a totalitarian enforcer. Osun State is in the hands of a misfit.
“The sacked rector holds a doctorate degree. He is therefore eminently qualified as rector whereas the man picked to replace him is among the lowest chief lecturers. The only consideration is that he is from Ede, the governor’s town. It is therefore a manifestation of nepotism of the highest order.
“The list of acts of nepotism under Governor Adeleke is now as long as River Mississippi. He made his late brother’s wife a commissioner. Another woman appointed commissioner has a relationship with the Adeleke family.
“A fresh graduate of the Adeleke family was appointed chairman of the Local Government Service Commission. Adeleke (jnr) is the governor’s nephew, the son of governor Adeleke’s elder brother and the late governor of Osun state, Isiaka Adeleke.
“This governor allocated around 31 juicy posts, including 7 permanent secretaries to Ede. Again without bashing an eyelid, Adeleke ensured that 6 out of the newly appointed 30 special advisers are from Ede town, his country home. Already, the leader of the lecturer’s union in OSPOLY has accused Adeleke of wanting to put Ede indigenes everywhere in the school. Nigeria never had a worst governor.
“If Governor Ademola Adeleke does not win the nobel prize for nepotism, his name will definitely enter the Guiness Book of Records for acts of impunity, abuse of due process and reckless infringement on decorum.
“Before we drop the anchor, we assert that we are not unaware that Mr. Kehinde Alabi Adeyemi, the man who was wrongfully and illegally appointed as rector, is a Muslim. But that is neither here nor there. There is open injustice here. We will rather eschew sentiment and settle for merit and justice. We therefore demand the immediate and unconditional reinstatement of the sacked rector, Dr. Kola Odetayo.”
