The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has accused Governor Ademola Adeleke of terminating the appointments of the principal officers of the University of Ilesa made by his predecessor, Adegboyega Oyetola.
Adeleke’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, in a statement on Thursday, announced the appointment of Prof. Taiwo Asaolu from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, as the pioneer Vice Chancellor of the university, while Mr. Funso Ojo was named the Registrar of the institution.
Dr. Mukaila Oyekanmi was named the Bursar, while Mr. Adewale Ogunsipe was appointed Liberian.
But the acting Osun APC chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, while reacting to the appointment in a statement obtained in Osogbo on Friday, insisted that Oyetola before leaving office appointed Prof. Kayode Ijaduola, the VC of the university, while Mr Oluwole Dada and Dr Adedokun Ojelabi, were appointed as the Registrar and Libertarian respectively.
Alleging that Adeleke had sacked the principal officers appointed by his predecessor, Lawal described the development as “reckless”, adding that the action of the new governor was an “apparent show of bitterness and debilitating struggle to rubbish the legacy of his predecessor simply because they share different political ideals.”
The acting APC chairman said the new university of Ilesa being a creation of the law has made the removal of the tenured principal officers duly approved by a governor an illegality.
The statement further read, “I doubt it if the law that established the University of Ilesa grants the state government the power to remove or appoint the Vice-Chancellor and principal officers of the university without the recommendation of the Governing Council.
“The process of the appointment of the new principal officers of the Ilesa University is crude, illegal, and stinks to high heavens as it would be an impossible Utopia for it to surmount legal firepower in any court of law.
“The sack is not only reckless but a bad precedent. It is another further indication that the Adeleke administration lacks governance basics. History will not be fair to those who are thinking for this administration as there is hardly a government policy that has been gotten right by the obviously embattled Adeleke government.”
But reacting to APC allegations, Rasheed said appointments of principal officers for the university was part of the fulfilment of Adeleke’s promise to nurture a sustainable tertiary institution for Ijesa people.
Rasheed said the new appointments made for the university elicited applause across Ijesaland, and assured that laudable ideas recommended by the erstwhile Review Committee would be implemented under the same man who chaired the review panel.
The statement further read, “I am elated that we are keeping faith with the Ijesha people. We are upholding due process, avoiding politicisation of the academic environment, correcting errors of the past, and fulfilling the decades-old dream of the Ijesha people.
“I commend the leaders, sons and daughters of Ijeshaland for their patience and acceptance of ongoing decisions of our government. I urge all stakeholders to cooperate with the new Vice Chancellor as he settles down to the urgent task of sustainable take-off of the university.”