The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, has rejected the news of his removal as the university’s head by its governing council.
The university’s governing council on Wednesday, through its secretary and university registrar, Oladejo Azeez, said the council suspended Mr Ogundipe during an emergency meeting held in Abuja.
“This decision was based on Council’s investigation of serious acts of wrongdoing, gross misconduct, financial recklessness and abuse of office against Professor Oluwatoyin T. Ogundipe, FAS,” Mr Azeez wrote in a circular released there after.
It is still unclear if the council has such power to suspend the vice-chancellor as PREMIUM TIMES continues its reporting on the controversy.
Mr Ogundipe in a counter statement after the announcement told the public to disregard the council’s statement.
He described the announcement as mischievous and a figment of the imagination of the council.
“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,” he wrote.
Disagreements between the university’s governing council and the management worsened 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.
