A lecturer in the Department of Mass Communications, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Waziri Isah-Adam, has accused Vice Chancellor Kabiru Bala of attempts to silence and sack him from the institution after allegedly exposing multimillion-naira fraud perpetrated by the VC.
Recall that the VC had queried Mr Adam over his refusal to disclose the circumstances surrounding his leaving the service of New Nigerian Newspapers prior to joining the university as an academic staff in 2006.
The VC claimed that Mr Adam was dismissed from his previous employee but refused to disclose to the university management.
But Mr Adam, in a statement sent to DAILY NIGERIAN on Wednesday, disclosed that at no point during the application or documentation process did the university management required or instructed him to provide a detailed history of his previous employment.
However, Mr Adam alleged that the VC’s query was a desperate attempt to silence him after his publication had exposed his corruption allegations in September 2021.
“He has since vowed to sack me, demonstrating his shameless discrimination and selective justice.
“It’s astonishing that the VC would rather punish a whistleblower than address the serious issues plaguing the university.
“Education Monitor stands by its reporting and Adam’s integrity, refusing to be intimidated by the VC’s vindictive tactics,” Mr Adam vowed.
Mr Adam also accused Mr Bala of double standards, hypocrisy, and vindictiveness.
The lecturer, who is also the publisher of the Education Monitor newspaper, recalled that, “in 2003, the VC was reminded of a similar allegation involving his benefactor, who was accused of embezzling N400 million in university funds and had been dismissed from his previous employment before joining ABU.
“Instead of investigating and taking action, the VC chose to sweep the matter under the rug, allowing his benefactor to escape accountability.
“The VC waited for his benefactor to retire before resurrecting the same allegation against me, who had previously exposed the VC’s corruption scandals in September 2021.
“In a bizarre twist, the VC resorted to this query after I gave satisfactory responses to three previous queries issued to me in just one minute, demonstrating the VC’s desperation to silence me,” he added.
