The former Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Professor Abayomi Fasina, has been confirmed by the Senate as a non-career Ambassador/High Commissioner of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, despite a heated debate over petitions alleging sexual misconduct against him.
The confirmation followed a sharp exchange on the Senate floor on Wednesday after Adams Oshiomhole urged lawmakers to suspend consideration of the nomination because of sexual misconduct petitions filed by two women against him.
He argued that approving Fasina while allegations involving two women were still before the courts would send the wrong signal and appear insensitive to women.
“I think the general view is that nobody is saying he is guilty; he deserves to be innocent until proven guilty. But as a matter of sensitivity, a man who faces cases like that, for the Senate to endorse him, will amount to being insensitive to the feelings of women,” Oshiomhole said.
He urged the Senate to allow the nominee to clear himself in court before confirming his appointment.
However, Simon Lalong, who stood in for the Chairman of the Senate Committee that screened the nominee, dismissed the concerns, insisting that the committee thoroughly examined the petitions and found no basis to deny the confirmation.
Presenting the committee’s report, Lalong disclosed that the panel received both petitions against Fasina and counter-petitions supporting his nomination.
According to him, the allegations had already been investigated by the Federal University Oye-Ekiti Governing Council and the Nigeria Police Force, both of which found them to be false.
He added that Fasina was also cleared by the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police before his nomination was recommended for Senate approval.
“With all these clearances, the nominee performed wonderfully well, especially considering his record of service within the university. The committee had no doubt in recommending his confirmation,” Lalong said.
The debate took another turn when Cyril Fasuyi, a member of the screening committee, expressed reservations despite signing the report.
Fasuyi said the university is located in his constituency and that he was personally familiar with the controversy.
According to him, one of the women involved had narrated her experience to him and had not received justice. He urged the Senate to exercise caution and suggested that the matter be referred for further investigation before a final decision.
“There is nobody in Ekiti North that is not aware of this matter. If this man is given express clearance, I don’t think it would be an issue that Ekiti, where he served as vice chancellor, will be very happy about,” he said.
But Senate President Godswill Akpabio ruled that the Senate could not rely on allegations that had neither been substantiated before the screening committee nor resulted in any conviction.
He noted that the committee had already carried out its constitutional responsibility and found the nominee qualified.
“The issue raised by Senator Oshiomhole that the man is being charged to court, and therefore all proceedings should be halted, is in contravention of Section 36(5) of the Constitution,” Akpabio said.
“A man is presumed innocent until the contrary is proved. We cannot, on the basis of an allegation, fail to perform our constitutional responsibility.”
Akpabio also questioned why the petitioners did not appear before the committee despite the opportunity to do so. He further reminded senators that the committee’s report expressly stated that both the university’s Governing Council and the police investigated the allegations and found them to be false.
Backing the committee’s position, Abdul Ningi cautioned lawmakers against turning the Senate into a forum for trying allegations outside its constitutional mandate.
He said the screening process was limited to evaluating nominees’ qualifications, competence and whether they had been convicted of any offence, stressing that issues outside those parameters should be left to the courts.
“We should not take undue advantage of our position as senators. This is a very sensitive matter that affects not only the person but also members of his family and community,” Ningi said.
He urged the Senate to adopt the committee’s report, adding that anyone dissatisfied with the outcome was free to seek redress in court.
Akpabio also criticised Fasuyi for signing the committee’s report recommending Fasina’s confirmation before raising objections during plenary.
“If you signed this report that the man is very articulate and wonderful, why didn’t you ask the woman to appear before the committee?” the Senate President asked.
Following the debate, the Senate dissolved into the Committee of the Whole, considered the report and subsequently approved Fasina’s nomination.
Akpabio thereafter announced that Professor Abayomi Fasina had been confirmed as a non-career Ambassador/High Commissioner of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In a jab at Oshiomhole, he joked about a video of a lawmaker who was massaging a lady’s feet on a plane, saying the Senate was also in receipt of a petition related to it.
Meanwhile, the Senate rescinded its earlier passage of the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act, 2026, which was passed on July 9.
Akpabio explained that there were “many things that were inconsistent with global best practices” in the legislation as passed.
(The Sun)