Protesters took to the National Assembly in Abuja on Tuesday, urging the Senate to suspend the confirmation of Prof Abayomi Fasina as a non-career ambassadorial nominee.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu nominated Professor Abayomi Fasina, the immediate-past vice chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State for an ambassadorial role.
His past has continued to haunt him as the allegation that while he was in the saddle of the university he pressurised Mrs Folasade Adebayo, an engineer and then a deputy director at the school to sleep with him, with claims that when the married woman shunned his advances, he resorted to victimisation.
An allegation he has persistently denied, protesters under the banner of the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations, chanted solidarity songs and displayed placards citing his sexual harassment, human rights violations and victimisation before the courts as reasons for the protest.
The civil society groups insisted that the Senate should defer any confirmation until pending court cases against him are concluded.
Addressing journalists at the National Assembly complex, Adeyemo Amira, a legal practitioner who spoke on behalf of the coalition, said Fasina had pending cases before the National Industrial Court in Lagos and Abuja.
While insisting that the protest was not driven by personal animosity, Amira urged the Senate to allow the judicial process to run its course before considering the nominee’s confirmation.
She also stressed that the protesters were not asking the Senate to convict or prosecute Fasina, noting that only the courts have the constitutional responsibility to determine guilt or innocence.
“Our call to the Senate is clear. Where there are grave allegations such as sexual misconduct pending before a court, this is not the time to confirm such a person to represent Nigeria internationally.
“The Senate is not a court. Let the court do its job.
“We have no personal vendetta against Prof Abayomi Sunday Fasina. But this issue is bigger than one individual,” Amira said.
