The Pro-chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and chairman of governing council, Dr. Wale Babalakin has revealed that the Council followed due process in the removal of Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe.
Babalakin stated this when he briefed journalists in Lagos, noting that under the laws of the university, voting on controversial issues was either done in secret or in the open.
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Babalakin said: “The confusion is that most people don’t know how governing council operates. There was full compliance of the law in the removal of Prof Ogundipe,
“The issue has been lingering on for a long time. Series of attempts were made to reconcile but the VC was not forthcoming,
“Due process was followed in the removal of Ogundipe. After the council committee indicted the VC, he wrote his defence in May and spoke for one hour. His sack was done in accordance with UNILAG law.
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The votes were counted with each council members’ comments. Everyone voted, they didn’t just vote, but they made comments and I read out all the comments,
“Go and read the law, what the law said is that when a Vice-Chancellor is removed and you have a complaint, you will write an appeal to the visitor. He cannot on his own, declare that he has not been removed as Ogundipe has done. He cannot on his own confront his employers. In law, he has resigned because if you challenge your employer and you are still in his employment, you have actually left.
“The weakness of Ogundipe is that his legal advisers have not done a very thorough job. There is no stalemate and there is no chaos in the university because the law would take its course. It is not in the place of the removed VC to say he has not been removed. He cannot be a judge in his own court.
“He cannot on his own declare that he has not been removed. He cannot on his own decide to confront his employer.
“The former VC spent N49 million renovating his house. Under the process, this has to be done with approval from the council, he sought no approval. To cover-up, he gave the bursar N41 million to renovate his official residence. The official residence of the bursar can be built for N41 million from the scratch, this was what was spent on renovation,”
But the Committee of Vice Chancellors said Prof. Ogundipe should have been given an opportunity to defend himself, adding that the appointment of an acting Vice Chancellor outside the three deputy Vice Chancellors of the institution, goes against the laws establishing Nigerian universities.
