The management of the Federal University, Gusau (FUGUS), located in Zamfara State, has issued a formal statement disavowing the professorship documents that were recently circulated by Bernard Odoh, the dismissed Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) in Awka, Anambra State. These documents, which Odoh has presented as proof of his academic tenure at FUGUS, have been categorically rejected by the university as fraudulent.
This development follows a series of controversies surrounding Odoh’s appointment as Vice Chancellor of UNIZIK, a position he held for a mere three weeks before his dismissal. During this brief period, multiple issues arose concerning his academic qualifications, his recruitment process, and his professional history. It was within this context that Odoh had claimed that he was appointed as a visiting professor at FUGUS in 2014, and later promoted to a full professorship in Applied Geophysics in 2015. These assertions, however, have now been directly challenged by the management of FUGUS, which has taken a firm stance in denying the validity of these claims.
In the statement issued on Thursday, Yakubu Anivbassa, the Registrar of FUGUS, addressed the issue by firmly discrediting the professorship credentials presented by Odoh. According to the university, the letters Odoh has paraded, which supposedly confirmed his appointment and promotion to the position of full professor at FUGUS, were fraudulent in nature. Specifically, these documents, dated April 30 and November 12, 2015, were supposedly certified by Ibrahim Bawa Kaura, the former Registrar of the university, who left the institution in 2018. However, the university contends that these documents are not genuine and were produced through administrative fraud.
The statement detailed the nature of the alleged fraud, claiming that Odoh, in collaboration with the former Vice Chancellor and Registrar, forged the documents to support his false claims. The university asserted that there is no official record of Odoh ever being employed at FUGUS, and the documents he has presented as proof of his professorship were never issued by the institution. Moreover, the statement pointed to the actions of Ibrahim Bawa Kaura, who, despite having left FUGUS years ago, purportedly used a fake stamp to certify the documents as true copies in November 2024, an act which the university described as unlawful. This was done, according to FUGUS, without any legal basis, as Kaura no longer held any official position at the university at the time.
FUGUS emphasized that the certification of public documents is governed by strict legal requirements, which are outlined in Section 104 of the Evidence Act of 2011. This section clearly states that in order for a document to be considered a certified true copy, several conditions must be met. These include the payment of legal fees, the proper certification of the document by the responsible officer, the inclusion of the officer’s signature, name, and title, as well as the application of an official seal. The university pointed out that the documents being circulated by Odoh did not meet these legal criteria. They were not properly signed or sealed, and were not issued by the current Registrar of the university, rendering them legally invalid.
Furthermore, the statement highlighted the serious nature of the actions taken by the former Registrar, Kaura, who was alleged to have usurped the duties of the current Registrar in an attempt to legitimize the fraudulent documents. The university made it clear that Kaura’s actions were not only unlawful but also damaging to the integrity of the institution. The university stressed that, under the law, Kaura had no authority to certify any documents after his departure from the university in 2018, and therefore his involvement in certifying Odoh’s documents was entirely illegitimate.
In addition to disputing the validity of the documents, the university’s statement also called attention to the broader implications of the situation, pointing out the damage that such fraudulent activities can cause to the reputation of academic institutions. By presenting fake credentials, Odoh and his collaborators undermined the trust and credibility of the academic processes at FUGUS. The university expressed its determination to uphold the integrity of its records and its commitment to taking all necessary steps to address the situation.
In conclusion, FUGUS firmly rejected Odoh’s claims of having been appointed and promoted as a professor within their institution. The university made it clear that the documents in question were fraudulent and that Odoh’s professorship at FUGUS never existed. The statement served as a stern reminder of the importance of maintaining transparency, honesty, and legal integrity in academic and professional matters, and the university vowed to pursue any further legal action necessary to rectify the situation and safeguard its reputation.
