EFCC Arrests LASUSTECH VC Odusanya in Explosive N2.1bn Accreditation Probe

The walls finally closed in on Professor Olumuyiwa Odusanya, the Vice-Chancellor of the Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH), on Monday, November 12, 2025. After months of brazen evasion and a string of flimsy excuses, from the supposed unavailability of lawyers to the inexplicable absence of his sureties, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) ran out of patience. The long arm of the law finally stretched into the hallowed, yet increasingly tarnished, halls of the university administration to seize the institution’s chief executive.

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The focus of the investigation is a staggering N2.1 Billion, funds allocated specifically for critical university accreditation exercises. This massive sum, intended to equip laboratories, stock libraries, update ICT infrastructure, and ensure the quality of academic programmes, was allegedly siphoned, compromising the academic future of thousands of Lagos state students.

Odusanya’s appearance at the EFCC office in Lagos was anything but subtle. He arrived flanked in a clear display of legal intimidation, having accompanied by six Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), Nigeria’s equivalent of King’s Counsel (KC). The sheer audacity of deploying such formidable legal artillery suggested a desperate man attempting to turn a serious criminal inquiry into a mere legal negotiation. However, sources within the anti-graft agency confirmed that the EFCC officials stood their ground. Odusanya, they insisted, has a mountain of evidence against him and a host of troubling questions to answer, far beyond the capacity of even six SANs to dismiss. As of the time of this report, Odusanya has been granted an administrative bail. He will appear before the agency again next week as our EFCC insider said he could not even utter any word of defense so far. He left broken and disgraced with his ego bruised and shattered.

The Conspiracy of Silence: Governing Council and Cabinet Collapse
The VC’s arrest is not an isolated incident; it is the climax of an unfolding drama of criminal enterprise that has implicated the highest levels of the university’s governance structure.

For the past two months, the trail of corruption has snaked through the administrative fabric of LASUSTECH, starting with several key members of Odusanya’s inner cabinet. We can now confirm that principal officers from the Bursary and Registry including PRO Lanre Kuye who is the poster boy in their money laundering escapades, responsible for the movement and authorisation of the N2.1 Billion, were among the first to be nabbed. Under intense pressure, these subordinates have not only been cooperating but have begun the painful, yet necessary, process of restitution, paying back substantial amounts of the siphoned public funds. Their compliance laid the unassailable foundation for the EFCC’s pursuit of the arrowhead: Professor Odusanya himself.

However, the most traumatising development for the university community has been the recent grilling of notable members of the Governing Council. This development is both shocking and, sadly, predictable. For years, the Governing Council, the supposed highest policy-making body charged with oversight and ensuring good governance, has behaved like a lame dog. They have turned a blind eye to Odusanya’s documented atrocities, allowing him free rein to convert public resources into private wealth. The reason is now brutally clear: they are all, as the saying goes, “birds of the same feather,” deeply complicit in the criminal acts. Their silence was not incompetence; it was a conspiracy.

The Governing Council, which should have been the moral compass, became the shield that protected the “jegudujera cabals” running the institution. Now, that shield is shattered, and the Council members themselves face the indignity of answering for their failures of fiduciary and moral duty.

The Silence of the Unions: A Wake-Up Call That Cannot Be Ignored
The question that now rings loudest across the campus is: Will the university unions and the student body still continue to behave as if nothing is happening?

The grilling of a sitting Vice-Chancellor on allegations of criminal financial embezzlement and money laundering, the single highest office in the entire institution, by a federal anti-graft agency is not a minor administrative shuffle. It is a monumental crisis, a public declaration of the institutional cancer that has eaten LASUSTECH from the inside out.

Where is the voice of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) chapter? Where is the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT)? Where is the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU)? For years, these powerful bodies have championed the rights of the university system, yet in this moment of absolute moral clarity, their silence is deafening. Are they intimidated? Are they complicit? Or are they simply hoping the storm will pass so that Odusanya can return and business as usual can resume?

The answer must be emphatically NO!

The shame and embarrassment Odusanya has brought upon the university community is indelible. His continued presence, even in custody, contaminates the soul of the institution.

The community: students, lecturers, non-academic staff, and alumni, must now realise that the legal system has given them the opportunity they have been waiting for. The EFCC has done its part by securing the chief perpetrator. Now, it is up to the ultimate stakeholders to reclaim their institution from the clutches of these cabals.

The time for measured memos and polite internal discussions is over. With LASUSTECH’s VC being investigated by the EFCC, there is enough reason for the university community to erupt in coordinated protest and demand his immediate and permanent sack.

He has forfeited all moral and administrative right to remain at the helm of affairs. The university cannot wait for a court conviction that could take years. The Governing Council, even in its state of compromise, must convene an emergency session and activate the process for his immediate removal.

When will the university community take back their institution? That moment is now. The future of LASUSTECH  its accreditation status, its global reputation, and the integrity of the certificates it awards  depends on the swift and unequivocal action of its people. Every minute Odusanya retains the title of VC is a minute too long. The clock is ticking. The community must rise.