The members of the Lagos State House of Assembly and the management of the Lagos
State University have differed over the dismissal of a student of the university, Toviho Ezekiel, on grounds of examination malpractices.
During a plenary session of the Assembly, the Vice Chancellor of LASU, Prof. John Obafunwa, was roundly criticised by members of the assembly for his refusal to pardon the student, a statement said on Thursday.
Ezekiel had petitioned the Lagos Assembly in June 2014, over wrongful dismissal by the
authorities.
He was said to have been expelled for alleged examination malpractices in the 100 level, which was re-visited at the point of
graduation.
Ezekiel had alleged that he re-registered for the subject, Math 104, and passed and proceeded to the next level and consequently to the final year, while the institution registered him for all the levels and exams.
He said the institution did not take any disciplinary action against him all through the period, until he received dismissal letter at the point of collecting the call–up letter
for his youth service.
After the assembly debated the matter, a resolution was passed on June 10, 2014, asking the LASU management to consider
him for graduation, since the supposed negligence was on the part of the institution not acting appropriately and
timely.
Another resolution was said to have been passed on October 13, 2014, after the first
was rejected.
The statement said, "The institution, over a
month after, did not liaise, consult, or respond accordingly to the resolution, hence at the plenary of the assembly on
December 31, 2014, the Vice Chancellor and others were summoned to appear before
the Assembly to clarify why it had continually disregarded the resolution of the Assembly."
Obafunwa was said to have explained that the student's case was not isolated, as
there "are over 1, 200 cases inherited from the past administration.
"The institution has taken a bold step to address the cases at the expense of death
threats from students involved in the exam malpractices; somebody has to do it."
He added that the varsity senate approved Ezekiel's dismissal at the governing council sitting on August, 2014.
He reportedly gave a situation of his nephew who was also involved in exam malpractice and had to be dismissed.
The Speaker, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, was said to have joined the rest of the lawmakers in chiding Obafunwa for not respecting the resolution of the assembly.
Ikuforiji directed the institution to consider the resolution again, which asked for a review of the expulsion on compassionate ground.
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