The Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Lagos, Dr. Wale Babalakin SAN, has defended the sack of Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe as the Vice Chancellor of the institution.
Babalakin who addressed newsmen at the arrival hall of the local wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MM2), Ikeja, Lagos on Friday said Ogundipe was sacked because of corruption and financial recklessness.
“Series of efforts were made to call him to order but the main truth is that Professor Ogundipe had been looting the university and doing so recklessly.
“There were misappropriations and direct looting of the university and all attempts were made to put an end to this. Are you aware that Prof Ogundipe was indicted of forgery in the lifetime of this council?
“He must be investigated. We need to do that for us to start building the university. I can tell you that when we probed the account of the university, it was in tatters” he said.
The Governing council chairman said the sack followed due process and dismissed any alleged crisis in the institution following Ogundipe’s sack adding that the former vice chancellor was not popular in the university as a result of the manner he ran it.
“Due process was followed. When the Council set up a committee to look into the finances of the University since we came on board, the report indicted several people including Ogundipe” he said
Babalakin said Ogundipe was given fair hearing to defend himself.
“If you go to the campus now and do a secret ballot of how popular Ogundipe administration is, you would see that it is unpopular. What was going on was misappropriation and looting of the scarce resources of the school,” he added.
