The Senate of the Lagos State University, LASU, has appointed Professor Oyedamola Oke as the acting vice-chancellor of the institution.
Oke was appointed at the emergency senate meeting held on Monday.
He was, before his appointment, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration.
Sources at the meeting said 113 professors attended the meeting and Oke polled 61 votes to beat Prof. Wahab Elias, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic, who got 51 votes. One person did not reportedly vote.
Prof. Oke emergence was contrary to speculations that Elias would emerge and that he was the candidate of the establishment.
The Governing Council of the university headed by Prof. Adebayo Ninalowo, later met to ratify the choice of Oke.
The Council will convey the decision of the Senate to the Visitor to the university, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Sanwo-Olu, had cancelled the ongoing process set up for the appointment of a substantive ninth Vice-Chancellor of the University.
The Governor further directed that a fresh process that would terminate in 45 days should commence immediately.
The outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun, was also directed to convene an emergency Senate meeting for the purpose of appointing one of the Deputy Vice-Chancellors, who is not a candidate in the cancelled selection process, as Acting Vice-Chancellor from Monday, January 11, 2021.
Following the expiration of the tenure of Fagbohun, today, a joint Selection Committee of the Senate and Council was earlier set up by the university to interview candidates for the position.
The Committee was expected to submit the names of the three best candidates for the job for onward transmission to the Visitor (the Lagos State Governor) for the final selection of one successful candidate for the job.
More than 18 Professors from about 10 universities applied for the job. But there was controversy over the qualification of some candidates selected to replace Fagbohun.
