Ogundipe had
filed an ex parte application, which was pending for hearing before the
National Industrial Court.
Deference to
the authority of President Muhammadu Buhari is the reason sacked Vice
Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe withdrew his
court case against the Governing Council of the institution, his lawyer,
Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, said on Friday.
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.
But a
statement issued on Friday by Ogundipe’s legal team, led by Adegboruwa, contrary to the falsehood being peddled by
mischief makers, the National Industrial Court had never sat or conduct any
proceedings in respect of the court case filed by the Vice-Chancellor.
He said no
court proceedings ever took place at all and so no decision or ruling had been
rendered by the court.
According to
him, upon detailed consultation with all stakeholders and his supporters in and
outside the University, Ogundipe directed his lawyers to file a notice of
discontinuance of the suit and that this had been done on August 21, 2020.
“This is to defer
to the authority of the President as the Visitor of the University as Professor
Ogundipe has enough time to challenge his purported removal.
“This
falsehood is being spread to malign the court and blackmail the judiciary by
enemies of the rule of law and due process,” he said.
Adegboruwa
added that the general public is therefore advised to discountenance these
mindless fabrications as the handiwork of those who were afraid of subjecting
their illegal acts to the true test of probity and to be wary of fake news
being peddled in place of truth, especially as they related to deliberate
manipulation of court proceedings.
He said there
was no time that the court sat to fix any date for the case.
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