Edo Election: Osinbajo’s Friend, Prof Shoremekun of FUOYE Takes Charge Of INEC Ad-hoc Collation Officials’ Training In Oye Ekiti

The stage appears set for the planned rigging of the Edo state governorship election with the involvement of the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Professor Kayode Shoremekun in the appointment and training of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Collation Officers.

Shoremekun is said to be a close ally of the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo and he is a known sympathiser of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Training of Edo State Election ad-hoc collation officers just ended at FUOYE.

INEC office in Ekiti State was not aware of the training, which started yesterday.

Majority of the Collation Officers were said to have been selected from FUOYE, with the involvement of Prof Shoremekun.

It should be recalled that Prof Shoremekun was the returning officer in the 2016 election in Edo State, with staff of the university as Collation Officers.

Sources disclosed to WazobiaReporters that like it was done in 2016, certain instructions that will be helpful to the APC may have been handed down to Soremekun.

The specifics of the instructions were yet to be known as of press time. But sources close to the development hinted that Soremekun looks ready to carry out whatever instructions that might have been given or that will be given to him by the INEC and influential persons in the APC led federal government.

“Prof Shoremekun will carry out any instructions from the powers that be so as to sustain his position as Vice Chancellor of FUOYE, a position he was not qualified for abinitio,” a staff of FUOYE told WazobiaReporters under the condition of anonymity.

His appointment as Vice Chancellor of FUOYE had remained controversial as he was no longer eligible for the position as of February 12, 2016, when President Muhammadu Buhari approved his appointment alongside 12 others after sacking substantive Vice-Chancellors of Federal Universities appointed by his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan.

Shoremekun retired as the Head of Department of International Relations at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in 2007 as the Vice-Chancellor of Federal University, Oye-Ekiti.

His appointment contravened the provisions of the 1999 Constitution’s Fifth Schedule under the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, Section 4 (1) and (2) which prohibit a retired public officer from taking up full-time employment in any public institution while already drawing pension.

According to Section 4(1) of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, a public officer shall not, after his retirement from public service and while receiving pension from public funds, accept more than one remuneration position as chairman, director or employee of – (a) a company owned or controlled by the government; or (b) any public authority.

Sub-section (2) states that a retired public servant shall not receive any other remuneration from public funds in addition to his pension and the emolument of such one remunerative position.

Where Section 4 (1) Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule appears to suggest that a public officer shall not accept more than one remunerative position, subsection 2 out-rightly bars all public servants from receiving salaries in addition to their pension.

The combined reading of Section 4(1) and (2) is that a retired professor who is on pension cannot be appointed vice chancellor. However, qualifications for VC-ship are as set out by the Act establishing the university.

The Act must never be in conflict with the Constitution.

Further findings revealed that after his retirement from OAU in 2007, Shoremekun took full-time appointment as a Professor at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). He allegedly left the university unceremoniously when it was discovered that he retired from OAU in 2007 and his appointment was found inconsistent with the law.

“It was after he left UNILAG that he went to Covenant University and from there to NOUN before he was appointed as FUOYE VC by default in 2016,” a staff of FUOYE said.