Unic Press UK: The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Universities (CVC) in Nigeria have condemned the statement by the Governing Council of the University of Lagos (Unilag) that the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, has been relieved of his post.
Speaking in Nigeria’s capital city Abuja, the CVC Secretary-General, Yakubu Ochefu, told the representatives of several media organisations that the Governing Council did not follow due process in removing the Oluwatoyin Ogundipe.
“In the procedure for removing a vice-chancellor, you have to set up a joint council/senate committee. The vice-chancellor will be given an opportunity to defend himself. From there, a submission will be made to the council, which will take a decision. As CVC, we advise the council to take a step back and allow the process of removing a vice-chancellor as established by the law to take its course. It is a simple process. If it finds the man guilty, the council can remove him, but it should go through the normal process,” the CVC Secretary-General, Yakubu Ochefu, said.
What the Governing Council said
It was on Wednesday that the Governing Council announced a decision to remove the Oluwatoyin Ogundipe as Unilag vice-chancellor, accusing him of “serious acts of wrongdoing, gross misconduct, financial recklessness and abuse of office” in a statement issued by the Unilag Registrar and Secretary to Council, Oladejo Azeez.
Oluwatoyin Ogundipe reaction to his purported removal
Ogundipe: “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”
