PhD scandal: UI writes Osun poly, denies rector’s certificates

The University of Ibadan has written the management of Igbajo Polytechnic, Osun State, denying the certificates presented by embattled rector, Akinola Olaolu.

The letter, addressed to the Chairman of the Governing Council, Prof. Olu Odeyemi, stated that Olaolu did not have a MSc and PhD in Economics from the university.

PUNCH Metro had reported that there was a crisis at the Igbajo Polytechnic, a community-owned tertiary institution, over the alleged fraudulent PhD certificate of the rector.

Olaolu reportedly came into the school in December 2015 as a deputy rector to the former rector, Tanimowo Oke.

However, because he claimed to have a PhD in Economics from the UI, his arrival led to the exit of Oke, who had a master’s degree as of then.

More than eight months after his arrival, he was reported to have refused to produce his purported PhD certificate, as he submitted only a notification of result to obtain the job.

A former registrar at the polytechnic, Bisi Odebunmi, was said to have also left the school after he (Odebunmi) demanded the PhD certificate in an official memo.

When PUNCH Metro contacted UI with a copy of the notification of result, the Director of Public Communications, UI, Olatunji Oladejo, said the institution had no record of the rector.

The rector’s purported thesis supervisor, Prof. Ademola Ariyo, also told PUNCH Metro that there was no record of Olaolu in the Department of Economics where he claimed to have bagged the doctorate.

When our correspondent confronted the rector with the UI’s position on the notification of result, he said he had just obtained his PhD certificate from the school.

Our correspondent, however, obtained a copy of the certificate through a source.

Like the notification of result, the purported certificate was sent to UI for verification and was again disclaimed.

The University of Lagos, Akoka, where Olaolu claimed that he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Economics also said checks revealed that the rector did not graduate from the school.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, in a statement by its spokesperson, Rasheedat Okoduwa, said the rector had been arrested and detained at the Ibadan office of the agency.

The chairman of the Igbajo polytechnic’s governing council, Prof. Odeyemi, while declining to comment on the arrest, told our correspondent that the institution was awaiting UI’s response to the school’s enquiries.

However, further investigation by our correspondent revealed that Olaolu had his first degree in Biology from the University of Lagos, Akoka, in June 1977.

He completed his National Youth Service Corps on July 31, 1978.

With the BSc in Biology, he registered for a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in UI in 1996 and completed the terminal course.

However, his claim of having BSc, MSc and PhD in Economics has been proved false.

PUNCH Metro obtained from a source a two-page document addressed to Odeyemi by the Registrar of UI, Mrs. Olubunmi Faluyi.

The document, dated June 25, 2018, confirmed our correspondent’s findings.

It read in part, “Mr Olugbenga Akinola Olaolu (SI  39561) was offered a provisional admission for MBA during the 1992/1993 academic session.

“From the available information in his file with the records office of our postgraduate school, he was admitted by the Senate of the University of Lagos to the degree of Bachelor of Science (Biology) with a Second Class Honours (Upper division) on June 29, 1977. However, his academic transcript was not recorded to have been verified to confirm its genuineness.

“He graduated from the Department of Economics of the University of Ibadan with an MBA degree on June 10, 1997. However, further investigation revealed that he has not collected his original certificate for this from our certificate room.