AS the crisis over the appointment of the new vice chancellor for the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife festers, concerned academics in the institution, on Monday, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint an acting vice chancellor for the institution, pending the outcome of court litigation instituted by the Non-Academic Staff of Universities (NASU) regarding the matter.
Addressing a press conference in Osogbo, on Monday, the dons, led by Professor Adegbola Akinola, contended that the resolution of the Federal Government to dissolve the governing council of the institution was a clear justification of their earlier claim that the appointment of Professor Ayobami Salami as the vice chancellor of OAU was questionable.
He called on the government to constitute a panel of enquiry into the crisis rocking the university over the appointment of new vice chancellor, with a view to coming out with a report that would be acceptable to all the stakeholders in the university.
Akinola, who stated that life could only return to the university if an acting vice chancellor was appointed, said handing over the properties of the institution to the registrar, following the dissolution of the governing council, would not be ideal in resolving the current logjam.
According to him, “no academic in OAU can validly claim that due process had not been injured by the manner and actions of the university’s governing council since December last year, when the advertisement went out calling for application into the post of a Vice Chancellor for OAU.”
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