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ASUU Condemns Ogundipe’s ‘Removal’ As UNILAG Council Names Acting VC
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Hours after saying it has removed Oluwatoyin Ogundipe as the vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos, the school’s council said it has appointed Theophilus Soyombo in acting capacity.
Crisis brewed on Wednesday when the council resolved at its emergency meeting held in Abuja to sack Mr Ogundipe over allegations of infractions and gross misconduct.
Mr Ogundipe fired back, saying his “purported removal” was a “mischievous disinformation” as “the extant provisions of the law have not been complied with” by the council.
It appears the action of the governing council, however, does not have the backing of the law stablishing the university. The law vests the power to remove a vice-chancellor on the Nigerian president.
By the provision, the president of the country can remove the vice-chancellor “after due consultation with the Council and the Senate acting through the Minister of Education.” But a publicist of the ministry said “the ministry is yet to be briefed.”
Asked the provision it followed to remove the VC, a member of the council who does not want to be named because he was not cleared to speak with the press on the matter, cited section 18 of the university law.
But checks by this newspaper on the said section talks about how the deputy vice-chancellor can be removed, not the vice-chancellor.
But the council in a statement Thursday maintained it acted lawfully and its decision to remove Mr Ogundipe stands, announcing Theophilus Soyombo as the interim head.
“I also wish to use the opportunity to inform members of the public that Council at the said meeting duly appointed Professor of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos as Vice Chancellor of the University in an Acting Capacity,” the university’s registrar and council secretary, Oladejo Azeez, said in a release.
“Members of the public are hereby advised to totally disregard the statement attributed to the said former Vice Chancellor. The position remains that he was lawfully removed by the Governing Council at a meeting fully attended by all Council members,” he added.
The newly appointed acting vice-chancellor, Omololu Soyombo, graduated from the University of Lagos with a B.Sc in Sociology in 1977. Thereafter, he bagged his masters degree in Sociology from the University of Essex, England.
Now a professor of sociology, he teaches the course at the University of Lagos sociology department, where he specializes in, among other areas, the sociology of deviant behaviour in youths.
A member of the Nigerian Anthropological and Sociological Association and member Integrated Transport Initiative, Mr Soyombo is a former managing director of the University of Lagos Consult and former Dean faculty of Social Sciences.
Meanwhile, the UNILAG chapter of Academic Staff Union of Universities has rejected the Mr Soyombo’s appointment, condemning the purported sack of of Mr Ogundipe.
The union’s chairman, Dele Ashiru, insisted Mr Ogundipe remained the union’s recognised head, accusing Mr Babalakin of having vested interest.
“His removal is illegal and uncalled for. Our union condemns in the strongest term the purported removal. It is the machination of the pro-chancellor to destabilise this university and our union has been on the forefront of the agitation against a reckless and lawless pro-chancellor,” Mr Ashiru said.
“We reaffirm our confidence in the leadership of Professor Toyin Ogundipe as Vice Chancellor of the university,” the union’s chairman stressed.
According to the amended universities miscellaneous act of 2003, an an acting “vice-chancellor in all circumstances shall not be in office for more than 6 months.”
Premium Times
The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, on Thursday, criticised President Bola Tinubu’s “Emi Lokan” slogan ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Makinde said Nigerians do not need “turn-by-turn nepotism”, arguing that voters should be free to decide who becomes the country’s next president in 2027.
The Oyo State governor spoke during the APM’s town hall meeting in Akure, Ondo State.
Makinde asked: “How can someone say ‘Eemi lokan’ in a country like Nigeria? You were given the opportunity. If you recall the 1999 presidential election, the South-West voted massively for Baba Olu Falae, but the rest of Nigerians voted for Baba Obasanjo. So, this is not an issue that only the South-West can resolve; it is an issue we must address collectively as Nigerians.
“We do not want ‘turn-by-turn nepotism’, nor do we want a situation where people say, ‘I will vote for projects because it is my turn’. You will not finish those projects, and when it becomes someone else’s turn, they will do the same thing. We will end up with a Nigeria where we cannot get value for the resources belonging to Nigerians.
“The Reset Nigeria agenda is about building a country where infrastructure development supports economic growth and addresses the concerns of young people and women.
“Once we fix our economy, no zone will be left behind, and no demographic group will be left behind.”
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has denied saying the Federal government will introduce a fuel tax when the economy stabilises and income levels improve.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Oyedele said his remarks during an interview with ARISE News was misrepresented, insisting that a “fuel tax is not on the table.”
However, during the interview with Rotus Odiri, ARISE News Business Correspondent, on the sidelines of the 2026 International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, Oyedele said the tax would come when income levels improve enough for Nigerians to accommodate it.
He said taxes account for between 20 and 80 percent of pump prices in some countries, while many African countries impose between six and 10 different taxes on fuel products.
He said introducing fuel tax while petrol was still subsidised would have been counterproductive because government would effectively be paying the tax itself.
According to him, imposing the tax immediately after removal of petrol subsidy would be insensitive to Nigerians.
“The objective should be that instead of trying to suppress prices, which hasn’t worked for us, it hasn’t worked for any country in the world, not one. Instead of trying to suppress prices, think about how to grow income faster than prices rise,” Oyedele said.
“That’s how you bring prosperity and grow the middle class and that is exactly what we are doing as led by Mr. President himself.
“At the appropriate time, when the economy has stabilizes and income level will be able to accommodate it, those taxes will come. Not because we want to impose taxes,” he added.
In his Tuesday post, the minister reiterated that introducing a fuel tax at this time would be insensitive following removal of petrol subsidy, describing reports that government will introduce the levy when the economy stabilises as “fake news.”
A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and Deputy Director of the Presidential Campaign Council, Chief Dele Momodu, has described former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the most nationally formidable and experienced among the leading contenders for the 2027 presidential election.
Momodu said Atiku’s experience at the national level distinguishes him from President Bola Tinubu and former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi.
He stated this on Wednesday during an interview on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, in Abeokuta.
“If you look at the antecedents of the three major candidates, between Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, you will see that Atiku is the most experienced. He has managed our country at the highest level,” he said.
Momodu traced Atiku’s political journey to the 1992 Social Democratic Party (SDP), presidential primary where he contested against late MKO Abiola and stepped down for him.
He said Atiku accepted the outcome without crisis even after he was not picked as Abiola’s running mate, describing it as a mark of true democratic temperament.
“He is the only one who started from around 1992, contested the SDP primary against Abiola and stepped down with uncommon equanimity. He did not make any noise,” Momodu said.
He noted that Atiku was among the founders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and served as Vice-President from 1999 to 2007.
Comparing Atiku with Obi, Momodu argued that while Obi’s best was demonstrated in Anambra, Atiku’s was at the presidency level managing the national economy.
“Peter Obi has tried his best in Anambra, while Atiku’s best is at the level of vice president controlling the economy of Nigeria. The difference is clear. He has matured in experience and exposure,” he said.
Momodu also said President Tinubu’s experience was largely limited to Lagos.
“What I’m trying to say is that Tinubu’s experience was limited to Lagos, and that is why when he became president, he thought Nigeria was Lagos. And he has found out now that Nigeria is not Lagos,” he said.
He argued that the current economic hardship under the present administration did not show prosperity, insisting Atiku remained better positioned to lead the country.
“Well, we are yet to see that prosperity, and if yesterday would determine today and tomorrow, it is obvious that Tinubu should retire now and let someone else do it,” Momodu added.
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