Femi Makinde and Sodiq Oyeleke
Though the Governing Council of the
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, had concluded plans to
announce a new Vice-Chancellor today (Saturday), workers unions in the
school on Friday said they had secured a Federal High Court injunction
that would stop the planned announcement.
The Chairman of the OAU chapter,
Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions,
Chairman, Mr. Wole Odewumi, said workers would resist any attempt by the
school authorities to impose a candidate on them.
A member of the selection board, saddled
with the responsibility of appointing a new VC, had disclosed to one of
our correspondents on Thursday that it was set to announce the
successful candidate on Saturday.
Eleven
candidates had applied to replace the current VC of the university,
Prof. Bamitale Omole, whose five-year single term tenure will end June
23, 2016.
However, members of the school’s
chapters of NASU and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian University
laid siege to the VC’s Lodge on Thursday night, disrupting the final
screening of the final candidates for the position.
The NASU chairman, when contacted, told
Saturday PUNCH that the two unions stormed the lodge to prevent the
“kangaroo screening from holding.”
Odewole said, “We went to the VC’s lodge
and ensured that the kangaroo screening did not hold. They had the
intention of announcing a new VC today (Saturday), but it cannot happen
again.
“I was called by the Ooni of Ife, Oba
Ogunwusi, and he said we should hold on and we respected his words.
Aside from that, we got an injunction from the Federal High Court,
Ibadan and served them today (Friday).
“They cannot do anything now with the
court injunction. We are ready to resist any attempt to foist any
candidate on us as the VC without following the law.”
The two unions had repeatedly complained
that the governing council, led by Prof. Rowland Ndoma-Egba, did not
follow the laws guiding the selection process.
The Chairman of OAU chapter of SSANU,
Mr. Ademola Oketunde, and Odewumi had written a letter of protest to
President Muhammadu Buhari, asking him to dissolve the governing council
because of the alleged manipulation in the selection process.
One of our correspondents gathered on
Friday that leaders and members of the two unions were hinted that the
six candidates shortlisted for the final screening were invited to
appear for the final interview scheduled for around midnight.
The venue of the screening was, however, shifted to the VC’s lodge, apparently to prevent the two unions from disrupting it.
http://www.punchng.com/oau-vc-unions-get-court-injunction-to-stop-process/
Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE
Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner
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