Professor Benard Odoh, the embattled and dismissed 7th Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, has filed a lawsuit against the Federal University Gusau (FUGUS) management over allegations of denial of his professorial appointment and employment status.
According to a statement by his Personal Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Charles Otu, the case, filed at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria under suit number NICN/ABJ/434/2024, seeks redress for what Odoh considers damaging claims against his professional and personal integrity.
“Though no date has been set for the hearing, Odoh is committed to exhausting all legal avenues to defend his unblemished records and reputation,” Otu affirmed.
The statement further highlighted recent media reports stemming from a press conference held by the Vice-Chancellor of FUGUS, Professor Muazu Abubakar.
Abubakar had claimed that Odoh “was never in the employment of the university and neither was he a tenured professor at the institution.”
He added, “All documents pertaining to Odoh’s claims were fraudulently obtained through administrative fraud working in cahoots with the Registrar and the former Vice-Chancellor of the University.”
Otu described the accusations as part of a deliberate smear campaign:
“In other words, one strongly suspects that those desperate to rid Odoh out of office and perhaps further cause him public shame, ridicule and embarrassment are now even more desperate to damage and utterly destroy his academic, social and political reputations in what obviously could be understood as a deliberately orchestrated and mafiaso media trial, similar to what happened to the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, who has now been eventually washed clean by the Court.”
Odoh’s legal battle is set to spotlight allegations that, if proven unfounded, could significantly impact his academic and professional standing.
