Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, has approved the appointment of Prof. Labode Popoola as the new Vice Chancellor of the state university.
The appointment followed the recommendation by the council of the institution, which was signed and forwarded to the Visitor (Aregbesola) by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Council,
Yusuf Ali (SAN), after considering the report of the Selection Board.
According to a statement by Semiu Okanlawon, Director, Bureau of Communication & Strategy, Office of the Governor, Semiu Okanlawon, the vice chancellor’s appointment has taken immediate effect.
But in a swift reaction, one of the applicants for the then vacant post of the school’s VC, Prof. Andrew Akinmoladun, petitioned Governor Aregbesola, alleging that the selection process was skewed to favour Popoola.
Akinmoladun, a founding academic staff of the university, who left the institution in 2012 for Bronx Community College of the City University of New York, United States of America, in a letter addressed to the governor, said he applied for the job when it was advertised in August last year.
Akinmoladun said he decided to apply for the post because he met all the requirements, adding that he had traveled down to Nigeria from his base in the US purposely to attend interview for the post of the UNIOSUN vice chancellor.
He, however, alleged that some elements within the university conspired and ensured he did not get shortlisted, despite possessing all the requirements stated in the advertisement.
The letter, copies of which were obtained by our correspondent in Osogbo, reads partly, “I received a response to my application from the Institution through the Registrar vie a letter dated 17th October, 2016 with Ref: REG/ESTAB/EXT/17/VOL.111/161 intimating me of scheduled dates of Wednesday, 2nd and Thursday, 3rd November, 2016 respectively for the interview of candidates.
“I immediately boarded the plane from New York to Nigeria to make myself available for the next procedure. On my arrival, I heard that a Professor, within the university, has been adopted as government candidate and that he held a meeting with the UniOsun internal member and persuaded them to make sure I was not shortlisted because of my ICT and international exposure.
“It suffice to state that some candidates for the position were contacted and interviewed on Wednesday, 2nd November, 2016 and other candidates were also contacted to appear for interview on Thursday, 3rd November, 2016.
“Surprisingly I was never contacted for the two scheduled dates. I want to strongly state that the conduct and selection process so far is embellished with irregularities and discrepancies.
“Due process and transparency was never followed in the conduct and selection process but that everything was selfishly and hurriedly done just to pick and announce as already penciled down candidate.”
