The governing council of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) has removed Oluwatoyin Ogundipe as the vice-chancellor of the school, but in a swift reaction, the embattled VC said the purported removal was untrue and figment of the imagination of the signatory.
Mr Ogundipe was said to have been removed at the Council’s meeting held Wednesday at the headquarters of the National Universities Commission, Abuja.
Majority of the 11 council members were said to have voted to sack the VC, Mr Ogundipe over financial impropriety
However Mikhail Mumuni media adviser to chairman of the governing council, Wale Babalakin, was said to have declined comments, saying only the registrar of the university can provide details of the development.
In a counter statement, Professor Ogundipe said: “The attention of the University of Lagos (Unilag) management has been drawn to the ‘Notice to the General Public on the Removal of the Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos’; dated August 12, 2020 and signed by Oladejo Azeez, Esq, Registrar and Secretary to Council, stating that the current Vice Chancellor, Professor Oluwatoyin T. Ogundipe, FAS has been removed from office with immediate effect.
“This is untrue and a figment of his imagination. Therefore, stakeholders of Unilag and the general public are advised to disregard this mischievous disinformation about the sitting Vice Chancellor of Unilag, contained in that notice. Professor Ogundipe still remains Unilag’s Vice Chancellor”, the VC said.
The conflict between the university’s governing council and the management reached a head in March when its week-long 2020 convocation was abruptly cancelled just before it started.
The cancellation, which was ordered by the NUC, Nigerian universities’ regulatory body, was in response to a directive by the education minister, Adamu Adamu.
Mr Adamu gave the directive in response to a letter written to the vice-chancellor by the council chairman, accusing Mr Ogundipe of failing to share important details about the ceremony with the council.
The exchanges between the two officials were condemned by relevant stakeholders, including graduands, parents, the alumni and staff.
Fresh plans were still being made to reconvene the ceremony when the Covid-19 pandemic arrived to further keep the annual programme in abeyance.
With additional reports by Premium Times
