There is tension in Yaba College of Technology, Lagos over the appointment of a new Rector for the school.
The tenure of the incumbent, Dr. Magaret Ladipo, is due to end on December 8, 2017.
As at last week, the Governing Council of the school, led by Chief Lateef Fagbemi, has forwarded the names of three shortlisted candidates to the Presidency for approval.
The names, submitted to the Federal Ministry of Education, are those of three Chief Lecturers of the 70-year-old school, who underwent screening for the position.
Those who made the cut at the end of the screening exercise in order of performance are Obafemi Owoseni Omokungbe, Aledare Kayode and Omobayo Raheem.
While Omokungbe scored 89.7 per cent, Kayode came second with 76.5 per cent and Raheem third with 59.7 per cent.
The tradition in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions is for the Presidency to pick the candidate with the highest score in the interview.
Fagbemi, two members of of the school’s academic board, two other council members and Rectors of Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti and Federal Polytechnic, Mubi interviewed 22 applicants for the top job.
The exercise started in September.
Those who were also part of the screening process but with observer status were the Joint Council/Academic Board Selection Committee; representatives of the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu; the National Board for Technical Education; and the Federal Character Commission
Ladipo was also an observer during the process.
But since the submission of the names, available information has it that tension has been high on the campus as a Principal Officer of the institution is said to have offered N50 million bribe to senior officials of the Presidency to influence the choice of candidate for the rectorship.
The belief is that the Principal Officer is pushing to shove aside Omokungbe, who is from Ondo State and of the Department of Civil Engineering.
Aledare, a Chief Lecturer in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, is from Kogi State, while Raheem, the incumbent Deputy Rector , who is of the Department of Mass Communication, is from Oyo State.
Sources in the school said a campaign of calumny to discredit Omokungbe has begun.
The Principal Officer offering the N50 million bribe is said to be pushing for Raheem to succeed Ladipo.
One of the highpoint of the campaign of calumny has been that Omokungbe as a union leader was not government friendly.
It was learnt that the Yabatech community is yearning for the announcement of Omokungbe, with failure to do so likely to elicit protest.
But the Council, led by Fagbemi, is said to be bent on doing what it right by guarding the process though there has been pressure on members to cave in.
Tension over alleged moves to manipulate appointment of Yabatech Rector
