The Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has cancelled the ongoing process set up for the appointment of a substantive ninth Vice Chancellor of the University.
The Governor further directed that a fresh process that would terminate in forty five days should commence immediately.
According to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Gboyega Akosile, Governor Sanwo-Olu’s decision on the cancellation came after a thorough investigation and stakeholders engagement, which were necessitated by various petitions against the selection process.
“Governor Sanwo-Olu was inundated with petitions arising from the selection process of the Vice Chancellor by the Governing Council. After a thorough evaluation and investigation of the various complaints, Mr. Governor, in his capacity as the Visitor to the University ordered the cancellation of the process,” he stated.
The outgoing Vice Chancellor, Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun has also been directed by Governor Sanwo-Olu to convene an emergency Senate meeting for the purpose of appointing one of the Deputy Vice Chancellors, who is not a candidate in the cancelled selection process as Acting Vice Chancellor from Monday January 11, 2021 when the tenure of the incumbent Vice Chancellor, Professor Fagbohun expires.
The Governor further directed that, the Senate should select among its members, a pro tem chairman to superintend the meeting and conduct of election of Acting Vice Chancellor.
The new appointee when confirmed will be LASU’s 9th substantive vice-chancellor
Recall that the governing council of the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, had submitted three names of successful candidates to Governor Sanwo-Olu for a possible appointment as the institution’s 9th substantive vice-chancellor.
The decision followed the result of the interview conducted for five candidates by a seven-member joint council and senate selection committee.
Members of the selection committee include three professors who were drawn across various departments to represent the university’s senate. They are Barakat Animashaun, Olatunde Owolabi and Babatunde Yusuff. The latter is the incumbent dean of the university’s faculty of business administration.
Those that represent the governing council on the committee include the incoming managing director of MTN in Nigeria, Karl Toriola; a lawyer and managing partner of AEC Legal, a law firm, Anu Eso, and an unnamed female member of the governing council, while the council’s chairman, Adebayo Ninalowo, doubles as the chairman of the committee.
The interview, which held on December 21, was attended by a professor of Physiology and incumbent director of the university’s directorate of advancement of the vice-chancellor’s office, Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello; a professor of Public Health and incumbent director of the university’s research and innovation unit, Olumuyiwa Odusanya, and a former chairperson of the university’s branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), who was later appointed dean of students’ affairs, Kabir Akinyemi.
.
