Adeleke, ASUU differ over tenure extension for UNIOSUN VC

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The Osun State Government has urged members of the Osun State University community to refrain from actions capable of creating needless tension in the institution, as the national leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities moved against the decision to extend the tenure of the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Clement Adebooye.

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The government, in a statement signed by the state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, obtained in Osogbo on Tuesday, faulted ASUU’s position on the two-year tenure extension recently announced for Adebooye.

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ASUU had, in a communiqué issued after an emergency National Executive Council meeting held in Abuja on Saturday, September 5, declared that Adeleke’s extension of Adebooye’s tenure by two years violated the provisions of the university law.

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The union subsequently mandated its UNIOSUN branch to mobilise and respond courageously to the alleged “flagrant violation of the Miscellaneous Act as amplified in the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement.”

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The group also constituted a visitation team to the UNIOSUN branch to interact with the university administration, Governing Council and the Visitor, “in a bid to address the infraction on the two (2) years extension of the tenure of the Vice-Chancellor within two (2) weeks.”

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Reacting to ASUU’s move, the government said it respected the right of every recognised staff union of the university to express its views on matters concerning the welfare and administration of the institution.

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It, however, stated that the governance of Osun State University was regulated by the law and clearly defined statutory responsibilities of the Visitor, the Governing Council and other organs of the university.

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It also said it was necessary to correct the impression that the decision concerning the Vice-Chancellor’s tenure was taken arbitrarily or outside the framework of due process.

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“In the first place, the current tenure of the Vice-Chancellor subsists until January 2027, so the government has not taken any retroactive decision with respect to the tenure of the Vice-Chancellor. The decision by His Excellency, Senator Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke, as Visitor to Osun State University, must be understood within the context of the constitutional and statutory responsibilities of the Visitor and the subsequent legislative intervention by the Osun State House of Assembly.

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“Following the Visitor’s decision, the State Legislature commenced the process of amending the Osun State University Establishment Law to provide the necessary statutory framework for the tenure extension. The amendment was subsequently considered and passed by the House of Assembly after legislative consideration of the relevant provisions.

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“It is therefore inaccurate to portray the matter as though the Visitor acted in isolation or that the University’s governing framework has been disregarded. The Visitor cannot be said to have acted outside the law where the competent legislative authority has exercised its constitutional legislative function to amend the enabling law,” the statement read.

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The government cautioned against attempts to create an unnecessary atmosphere of crisis, illegality or institutional instability around a matter that had been subjected to the appropriate governmental and legislative processes.

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“No staff union, including ASUU, has the statutory authority to teach the Visitor or the Governing Council how to exercise powers lawfully vested in them. The University is governed by its enabling law, and not by the unilateral interpretation of any union or pressure group. It is also pertinent to state that the Governing Council remains the appropriate statutory organ for matters within its jurisdiction, just as the Visitor exercises the powers assigned to that office by the enabling framework of the University. Staff unions are important stakeholders, but they are not substitutes for these statutory organs.

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“The Governor consequently urges all members of the University community to refrain from actions, statements or mobilisations capable of creating needless tension in an institution that has remained focused on its core mandates of teaching, research, innovation and community service,” the statement further read.

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