A church advocacy group is mounting pressure on the Seventh-Day Adventist Church to halt the proposed appointment of Prof Olatunde Ojewole as the vice-chancellor of Babcock University, citing a hushed sex scandal that led to his resignation during the 2018-2019 academic session.

People familiar with the matter told Peoples Gazette that Mr Ojewole, an associate professor of religious studies, had a sexual relationship with a student that resulted in pregnancy, which he pressed her to terminate. Although the relationship was reportedly consensual, his conduct was deemed a serious breach of church rules and school regulations.

Babcock University subsequently set up a disciplinary committee to look into the incident. Sources told The Gazette that vice-chancellor Ademola S. Tayo kicked against making their findings public, swearing members of the panel to secrecy.

Mr Tayo, The Gazette heard, was more concerned about a backlash —that was almost guaranteed— should the public learn that a lecturer at a Christian university impregnated a student and forced her to have an abortion. The vice-chancellor covered up the incident in an attempt to preserve the school’s reputation.

The committee’s hands were tied, as the recommendations based on the findings provided grounds for an outright dismissal. But carrying out the sanction would have required disclosing the offence in Mr Ojewole’s sack letter— the same information they had sworn to never reveal.

To keep Mr Ojewole’s secret, he was advised to resign, a condition he accepted. The associate professor relocated to the U.S., where he later became senior pastor of Lake Region Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists in Illinois.

However, with Mr Tayo’s vice-chancellorship ending in September, Mr Ojewole returned to Nigeria to vie for the position.

Examiners scored him the highest in both oral and written assessments conducted at a top hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, on Wednesday. But the scandal of sleeping with a student as a lecturer casts a pall on his candidacy with fierce opposition from The Apostles, a Seventh-Day Adventist advocacy group.

Pastor Istifanus Ishaya, the chairman of the university’s governing council, would not be drawn on questions of Mr Ojewole’s questionable past.

“We are yet to receive a report from the search committee. So you may direct your question to the committee,” Mr Ishaya told The Gazette.

When The Gazette contacted Pastor Bassey Udo, President of the West African Division, to inquire whether the church had ever issued a pardon to Mr Ojewole, granting him a clean slate, the Seventh-Day Adventist leader lashed out at the newspaper.

Despite being the final authority to approve one of the top three candidates for Babcock’s vice-chancellorship, Mr Udo repeatedly asked The Gazette, “So, how is that my concern?” without denying the issue of sexual relations and abortion tainting Mr Ojewole’s records.

If a pardon had been issued, members of The Apostles Seventh-Day Adventist advocacy group were apparently not aware, as they publicly criticised Mr Ojewole’s candidacy, which they likened to “the kingdom of darkness” while asserting that a man of questionable character should not be allowed to lead the same institution whose student he impregnated and compelled to have an abortion.

When the newspaper approached Mr Ojewole, the embattled professor neither denied nor affirmed the veracity of the scandal.

“Make sure accusers and reporters give proof before publishing. Do all your due diligence to avoid violations of the law,” the embattled professor said in a text. “Don’t risk humongous litigation for earthshaking consequences. Please don’t hold back from publishing all evidences publicly! Good luck and God bless you.”

The Apostles coordinator, Elder Samson Fasasi, told The Gazette that appointing Mr Ojewole as vice-chancellor of Babcock University, despite his transgressions, was a sacrilege and indicated the Adventist Church in Nigeria’s failure to adhere to moral principles.

“We call on all men and women of the Seventh-Day Adventist faith to rise up and save their church and institution,” Mr Fasasi said. “The kingdom of darkness must not prevail.”