UNILAG CRISIS: Sacked VC accepts fate, withdraws court case

By OLADIMEJI RAMON

Sacked Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Toyin Ogundipe, has dropped a lawsuit he filed at the National Industrial Court to challenge his sacking by the varsity’s Governing Council.

The suit, marked NICN/LA/278/2020, had as defendants: UNILAG; the varsity’s Council; its Senate; Pro-Chancellor, Dr Wale Babalakin (SAN); Registrar, Oladejo Azeez; and Prof. Theophilus Soyombo, who was appointed acting VC in the wake of Ogundipe’s controversial sacking.

Ogundipe had filed an ex parte application, which was pending for hearing before the court.

But his lawyers, Messrs Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN) approached the court on Friday with an application to discontinue the case.

The Notice of Discontinuance, filed pursuant to Order 61(1)(1) of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (Civil Procedure) 2017, simply read, “Take Notice that the claimant doth hereby wholly discontinue this suit against the 1st-6th defendants.”

However, in a statement, titled, “Court did not refuse Prof. Ogundipe’s case,” Adegboruwa explained that the embattled VC took the decision to drop the suit “upon detailed consultation with all stakeholders and his supporters in and outside the University.”

Adegboruwa said, “Prof. Ogundipe directed his lawyers to file a notice of discontinuance of the suit and this has been done on August 21, 2020.

“This is to defer to the authority of the President as the Visitor of the University as Prof. Ogundipe has enough time to challenge his purported removal.” (The PUNCH)