The United Kingdom Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) on Wednesday cleared Nigerian-born medical doctor and social media influencer Olufunmilayo Ogunsanya of rape and abusive relationship allegations that his ex-girlfriend Bola Aseyan raised against him in 2020.

Documents from the tribunal released Wednesday morning said Mr Ogunsanya was cleared of the charges multiple layers of investigation could not establish any wrongdoing against him. 

Consequently, the panel said Mr Ogunsanya’s professional record and ability to continue medical practice in the UK have not been impaired. 

“As the facts have not been found proved it therefore follows that Dr Ogunsanya’s fitness to practise is not impaired,” the panel said in its July 19, 2023 verdict. 

Documents seen by Peoples Gazette showed the panel considered over 20 claims raised against Mr Ogunsanya and found no evidence to substantiate any of them, after several sittings and adjournments. 

The complaints were first levelled against Mr Ogunsanya by Ms Aseyan, also a medical doctor, who took to social media in 2020 to accuse him of sundry charges that included rape, domestic abuse and mental torture. 

Mr Ogunsanya, who was at the time prominent on Twitter for his medical opinions and analyses, promptly admitted his involvement with Ms Aseyan but strongly denied rape and abusive charges and pushed out evidence that appeared to exonerate him at the time.

The police in the UK intervened in the matter and found no evidence of wrongdoing against Mr Ogunsanya. A referral to the General Medical Council was also investigated before the matter was ultimately taken before the MPTS. 

Ms Aseyan subsequently deleted her Twitter account and disappeared from social media overall. She also fled the UK and returned to Nigeria, where she had been moving from one hospital to another, The Gazette learnt. Months after the allegations, Mr Ogunsanya, who had over 400,000 followers on Twitter before excusing himself from the social media platform on personal grounds, filed defamation charges against Ms Aseyan in Nigeria.

Ms Aseyan could not be reached for comments by The Gazette following today’s decision by the MPTS. 

Mr Ogunsanya, who graduated from Olabisi Onabanjo University in Nigeria before moving to the UK in 2012 to pursue further education in medicine and build a career, did not comment on the matter to The Gazette. 

But his lawyer in Nigeria, Inibehe Effiong, Mr Ogunsaya was doing well, and Ms Aseyan would face the consequences of her uncorroborated and defamatory allegations.

“Bolanle Aseyan is currently facing both civil and criminal lawsuits in Nigeria for her actions,” Mr Effiong said. “No one should have to go through what Funmi has ensured these past years. False rape allegations should never be trivialised. It is evil and despicable.” 

“Funmi is doing well and he sends his regards to all those who have stood by him and believed in his innocence,” the Lagos-based lawyer added.