The removal of the vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe did not follow due process, the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Universities (CVC) has said.
The committee also condemned the appointment of an acting vice-chancellor for the university outside the university’s three deputy vice-chancellors.
Secretary-General of CVC Prof. Yakubu Ochefu expressed the view of the committee while fielding questions from newsmen on Friday in Abuja.
“The chairman of the council knows that the tenure of two members of the council has expired, so he waited for the members not to be in council to get the majority vote,” he said.
“It is like a hatchet job, we don’t want it to appear like that because of the integrity of University of Lagos.
“The integrity is very high and we don’t want council members to degenerate to that situation.
“As it is now, we have a stalemate and it is looking more in favour of the university senate than the council.”
According to Ochefu, the extant law of the university states that if a vice-chancellor is removed, one of the deputies should be appointed to act.
Ochefu also called on the UNILAG governing council to follow due process in the removal of the vice-chancellor by providing Ogundipe an opportunity to defend himself.
“The challenge we have with this particular action is that the university community says the council did not follow due process; indeed, the communication from the embattled vice-chancellor is clear and it is to that effect.
“In the procedure for removing a vice-chancellor, you have to set up a joint council/senate committee.
“The vice-chancellor will be given the opportunity to defend himself; from there a submission will be made to the council which will take a decision,” Ochefu said.
