Senate passes vote of confidence on UNILAG VC

The Senate has unanimously passed a vote of confidence on the leadership of the Vice Chancellor and management team of University of Lagos for their relentless pursuit of the vision and mission of the institution.

A statement issued by the Principal Assistant Registrar (PAR), Communications Unit of the university, Mrs Taiwo Oloyede, said the Senate at its meeting of Tuesday, May 28, 2019 deliberated extensively on the strained relationship between the Governing Council and management culminating in the allegation of impropriety against the management of the university.

According to the statement, the Senate regrets that the avoidable development, if unchecked, will blight the noble efforts to improve the global ranking and generally advance the enviable brand of the university.

It will be recalled that queries bordering on allegations of travelling without permission and financial impropriety among others were issued to the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, by the institution’s registrar, Oladejo Azeez, who acted on the instruction of the chairman of the governing council, Wale Babalakin.

The Senate has however noted that the intervention of Regulatory Agencies and the House of Representatives Committee on Procurement have so far confirmed that the issues bordered mainly on day-to-day administration of the university, finances, infrastructure maintenance,  security and  official travel.

“Senate, after due consideration of the foregoing, resolved that the actions of the Vice Chancellor and the Principal Officers of the University were within their mandate as the Chief Accounting Officer and the Management of the university respectively and consistent with ideals of the University autonomy.

“It further enjoined the Vice Chancellor and his team to continuously engage in academic and administrative activities that will sustain the UNILAG brand to become one of the best in Africa by year 2022,” the statement reads in part.

The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Public Procurement, Mr Oluwole Oke, had also at the end of a two-day visit alongside other members of the eight-man committee to the institution advised the VC of the university not to allow anyone to usurp his powers.