CSOs back UNILAG VC, call For Immediate Removal Of Council Chairman
Civil society organisations have called on the Governing Council of the University of Lagos to make public its probe report on the alleged excesses and activities of the sacked Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, in the spirit of fairness and accountability.
The CSOs, under the auspices of the Coalition of Civil Societies for Probity and Good Governance, stated this in a release on Thursday, titled, An Affront on Democracy and Due Process.
The coalition noted that there had been a perennial crisis between the Chairman of the council, Dr Wale Babalakin, and the VC, Prof Ogundipe, where Dr Wale Babalakin wanted to be Procurement Chairman of the institution, which raised doubts in the minds of many Nigerians if the removal of the VC was not a personal vendetta.
The coalition Publicity Secretary, Comrade Idowu Odebunmi, who signed the release, said the civil societies observed that the removal of the VC based on “gross misconduct, financial recklessness amongst others which are yet to be proven” calls for further questions to be answered by the Governing Council.
The civil societies said, “We, on the mandate of ensuring justice, equity and good governance, have protested in the past against wrong government policies and commended the good ones and we shall not essitate to go on protest against all the dirty deals on Dr Wale Babalakin if he fail to revert the purported removal of the VC. It is imperative that we at this juncture bring to the fore the ongoing imbroglio between the Chairman of the council, Babalakin, and the VC, Ogundipe, who has been purportedly removed.
“In the current economic and political situation where there is need to put the country back on track, the need also to guide our democracy toward productivity becomes necessary. We urge that the white paper on the investigation be made public for the sake of accountability.
“Our sources have alleged that it is a vendetta-based decision. We want to call on relevant stakeholders, especially the Presidency, to undertake a genuine investigation to forestall malapropism and injustice.”
