The lawmaker representing Lagos East Senatorial District, Tokunbo Abiru, has dismissed the insinuation that he was the one that instigated Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to cancel the process that the Governing Council of Lagos State University (LASU) initiated in synergy with the institution’s Senate to select the next vice chancellor.
The senator also debunked an allegation that he told the governor to screen out indigenes of Ikorodu Division contesting for the vice chancellorship position on the ground that Ikorodu was only interested in the governorship seat and not the vice chancellorship position.
In a statement yesterday, Abiru said: “All these claims were nothing but mere figment of my detractors’ imagination. They do not in any way represent the truth. I neither prevailed on the governor to cancel the process first initiated by the joint council and Senate selection committee to select LASU’s next VC nor ever influenced him to zone the position out of Ikorodu Division for any reason. As a matter of fact, I did not play any role in the whole process.
“I strongly believe the appointment of LASU VC, like other tertiary institutions nationwide, should be based on competence and due process. This is the position I have always held.”
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Gboyega Akosile, also distanced his principal from the video and its contents, saying that Governor Sanwo-Olu’s decision on the cancellation came after a thorough investigation and stakeholders’ engagement, which were necessitated by various petitions against the selection process.
He said: “Governor Sanwo-Olu was inundated with petitions arising from the selection process of the vice chancellor by the Governing Council. After a thorough evaluation and investigation of the various complaints, the governor, in his capacity as the Visitor to the university, ordered the cancellation of the process.”
