Two concerned Edo indigenes have petitioned Governor Monday Okpebholo to urgently dissolve the Ambrose Alli University Governing Council, citing corruption, irregular recruitment, conflict of interest, and academic collapse. They warn that continued mismanagement under Chief Dan Orbih threatens the university’s integrity, urging decisive intervention to restore transparency, accountability, and credibility.
Your Excellency,
Senator Monday Okpebholo
Governor of Edo StateUrgent Call for Intervention and Restoration of Integrity in the Governance of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma
Your Excellency,
With utmost respect and a solemn sense of duty to truth, justice, and posterity, we write to bring to your attention the grave irregularities and maladministration surrounding the recent advertisement and recruitment exercise for principal officers of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma.
We commend your administration for the bold and courageous steps already taken to reposition the University — particularly through the release and increase of monthly subventions — after the severe damage inflicted under the so-called Special Intervention Team (SIT) of the Obaseki administration. However, despite this noble intervention, the current Governing Council, under the chairmanship of Chief Dan Orbih, has conducted itself in a manner grossly inconsistent with the principles of transparency, fairness, accountability, and respect for the rule of law.
1. Irregularities in the Recruitment Process
The appointment process for the Vice Chancellor, Bursar, University Librarian, and Internal Auditor has been marred by glaring irregularities, favouritism, and ethnic bias. Credible reports indicate that candidates from Kogi and Ekiti States were deliberately favoured along partisan and personal lines, to the detriment of merit and the collective interest of Edo people.
It is on record that Your Excellency, by directive of July 25 — communicated to Council in August through the Chairman — explicitly instructed that disqualified candidates be re-invited for interview and that the process be repeated. Your breach-of-process letter to Council stands as a commendable affirmation of your administration’s commitment to justice, equity, and due process, reinforcing the settled legal principle that no process tainted by bias can stand.
Regrettably, under the current Chairman, the recruitment exercise was manipulated and executed in a manner that mocked the dignity of the University and insulted the intelligence of Edo people. We are reliably informed that the Registrar (who by law is Secretary to Council) was deliberately sidelined, while a sitting Council member, Professor Razaq Momoh, was again nominated as Senate representative in violation of the University Edict (Schedule 5).
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), in its letter to the Council Chairman (also copied to Your Excellency), unequivocally called for the cancellation of the process. Reports further allege that monetary inducements exchanged hands, qualified candidates were unjustly disqualified, while those who resisted were insulted and ridiculed. Even more disturbing is the allegation that crucial documents — including Your Excellency’s directive and records of the interview — are now missing from University files, allegedly withheld by the Chairman himself.
2. Conflict of Interest and Abuse of Office
Equally troubling are allegations that close associates and relatives of the Chairman were imposed as Bursar and Internal Auditor (positions not duly advertised), alongside a Librarian from Ekiti State. These appointments, we are reliably informed, were designed to facilitate access to TETFUND contracts allegedly linked to his private company, Billmax, in Abuja, as well as other companies connected to Council members.
If substantiated, this conduct constitutes reckless administration, conflict of interest, and a gross betrayal of public trust. In law, it is a cardinal principle that nemo judex in causa sua — no one should be a judge in their own cause. Chief Dan Orbih, having presided over a compromised process, cannot in good conscience superintend its rectification. Justice, as the Scriptures affirm, must not only be done but must also be seen to be done (Proverbs 14:34).
3. Academic and Administrative Collapse
Beyond recruitment, the collapse of academic management under the current Council is alarming. A semester that should ordinarily last three months is now stretched into seven months, effectively turning a full academic session into just one semester. This distortion has exhausted students’ fees meant for a full session within one semester, thereby creating financial instability and academic uncertainty.
Even more distressing, staff salaries remain unpaid due to accumulated arrears, deepening frustration among employees. The Acting Vice Chancellor — derisively referred to by staff as “Ajala the Traveller” — is said to have lost grip of the system. Most worrisome is the fact that the Vice Chancellor’s statutory tenure has already elapsed, as confirmed by his valedictory speech during a press briefing last week.
We therefore urge Your Excellency to direct your legal team to urgently investigate these breaches, liaise with the University’s Unions, and chart a lawful course of action to further strengthen your transformation agenda in higher education.
Shockingly, following public outcry, the Council and management recently released a distorted two-month academic calendar — a move that only further exposes their administrative incompetence. Such mismanagement cannot be allowed to persist in Edo State’s premier University.
4. Call to Action
Your Excellency, we humbly but firmly urge you, in the interest of justice, fairness, and the integrity of Edo State’s education system, to:
1. Dissolve the current Governing Council, whose credibility has been fatally compromised.
2. Constitute an independent and impartial body to oversee the recruitment of principal officers, in line with global best practices and the noble aspirations of Edo people.
3. Investigate the allegations of conflict of interest, maladministration, and contract manipulation involving the Chairman and other Council members, in order to restore public confidence in our higher education system.
Such decisive action will not only restore credibility to Ambrose Alli University but will also reaffirm your administration’s covenant with truth, justice, and equity — principles upon which enduring legacies are built.
Respectfully submitted,
Ayemenre Godwin & Seun Umar
Writing from Washington D.C., USA
