Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has authorized the immediate suspension of Prof Jimoh Atanda Afolabi, the Provost of Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun.
The decision, disclosed in a statement by Olawale Rasheed, Governor Adeleke’s spokesperson, aligns with the interim findings of the Investigation Panel led by the Chief of Staff to the governor, Kazeem Akinleye.
According to Daily Post,Governor Adeleke endorsed the panel’s recommendation to retain Dr. Peter Babalola, the Chairman of the Governing Council, due to the absence of substantiated claims of abuse of authority or financial irregularities against him.
The statement elucidated, “The allegation of over two hundred million Naira fraud levelled against the Council Chairman was found to be unsubstantiated with documentary proof or transaction details.”
“The cash advance of three million Naira to the council chairman was found to be within the college’s financial regulations with all documentation verified by the committee.
“Based on a thorough review, the committee discovered that the allegation of N200m fraud levelled against the Chairman of the Governing Council is untrue, diversionary, baseless, and fallacious.
“Documentary evidence (voucher) revealed that he only collected a sum of three million Naira (N3m) as a cash advance which is officially allowed.
“On the Provost, the Committee reviewed three previous reports of investigations into various allegations of financial malfeasance, abuse of power and corruption levelled against him dating from past administrations to date.
“The Committee after a thorough review of the reports including that of the State House of Assembly alongside its own investigations recommended immediate suspension of the Provost, which is now endorsed by the State Governor.
“Sequel to the findings of the investigative Panel, the Provost of Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun, Prof. Jimoh Atanda Afolabi is hereby suspended on the grounds of financial impropriety, concealment of official information/ records; and failure to update the Governing Council on the important issues of the College.
“The Committee is billed to submit its final report at a later date.”
The issue commenced in January when the Chairman of the College Governing Council, Peter Babalola, suspended Prof. Afolabi over financial mismanagement.
In a bid to mitigate the escalating crisis, the state government established a three-man investigative panel led by the Chief of Staff to the governor.
Pending the panel’s findings, Prof. Afolabi was reinstated to his position.
