Osun State Government has demanded the immediate reinstatement of the governing council of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) to enable the university function properly.

In a statement, yesterday by Osun State Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Funke Egbemode, the government said the council of the institution jointly owned by the governments of Oyo and Osun states “was technically and unilaterally incapacitated by Oyo government’s withdrawal of their representatives.”

It also frowned at the action of the Oyo State government, which it said was taken without consulting Osun Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola

“We also find it strange that Governor Oyetola who is the Visitor to the university was not consulted about this ‘screening’. We are also not unaware that this ‘screening’ is a provocative process targeted at intimidating LAUTECH workers of Osun origin,” the statement said, describing an ongoing staff audit and screening being conducted by the Oyo government as illegal.

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“You cannot run a university without a governing council because it is not a provision store. Everything starts and ends with the council, and everything done without the council is illegal and cannot stand,” the statement added.

Egbemode said while the Osun State government is not averse to a staff audit or screening, that any such exercise should be done within the context of the extant laws establishing the university.

She said: “We wish to place it on record that the Osun State government is not averse to any legitimate action or exercise that is executed within the context of the extant laws establishing the LAUTECH, and in the spirit of its joint ownership.”