Lagos — Human rights lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), yesterday accused Governor Olusegun Agagu of Ondo State of being behind the decision of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, to withdraw the honorary doctorate degree conferred on him.

He said the alleged intervention of the governor was an abuse of office and an affront on the independence of the university.

Fawehinmi in statement said the university had recently written him a letter signed by its Registrar, Mrs. B. A. Oloketuyi, informing him of its decision to confer an honorary doctorate degree on him as a mark of honour.

He added that after acknowledging the gesture of the university, it suddenly wrote back to him, saying that "the offer had to be re-considered because, on review, it had been discovered that three eminent personalities in the legal profession were put for the award. It has therefore become imperative that we reduce the number by one."

Noting that sources in the university fingered the governor as the brain behind the action, the Senior Advocate said the governor's action cannot stop him from criticising his regime for its corruption and election rigging, which "has been unprecedented in the history of the elections in Nigeria".

He said what happened in the governorship election in the state on April 14,2007 was "an abominable and despicable act of daylight electoral robbery", noting that "justice demands that nobody should be allowed to profit from the proceeds of the such robbery."

The legal luminary argued that the governor and government of the state do not have authority under the law establishing the university to impose on it those to be honoured.

"What the Ondo State governor and government have done in my case demeans the intellectual integrity of the university and violates the independence of the institution. It is not right for the university to succumb to the illegal, unconstitutional and immoral pressure from the governor and government of Ondo State."

He noted that when he was awarded the same honour by the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife in December 2003, he was at the forefront of the opposition to Obasanjo's administration, adding that he even contested the April 2003 presidential election against the former president.

"Despite all these, the Senate of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife approved the Honorary Doctorate Degree of Laws which was conferred on me on the December, 2003. Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba should have done the same by standing its ground, defending its integrity and protecting its independence," he said.

"The barbaric action of Governor Agagu in this respect cannot stop me from continuing to criticise his regime for its corruption and election rigging, which of course has been unprecedented in the history of the elections in Nigeria. What happened in the governorship election in Ondo State on April 14,2007 was an abominable and despicable act of daylight electoral robbery. Justice demands that nobody should be allowed to profit from the proceeds of the such robbery. My support from Dr. Rahman Olusegun Mimiko is total because it is based on the truth and justice", he railed.