NUC Dissolves Joint Ownership of LAUTECH Ogbomosho, College of Health Sciences, Osogbo

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has announced the dissolution of the joint ownership of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho, Oyo state and the College of Health Sciences, Osogbo Osun.

Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, Executive Secretary, NUC, made the announcement at a news conference on the resolution of the lingering ownership crisis of the institution in Abuja on Friday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that over the years, the joint ownership arrangement of LAUTECH and the college of health sciences has been characterised by governance challenges.

These challenges have been affecting the appointment of Vice-Chancellor and other principal officers as well as irregular payment of staff salaries.

Rasheed said that in response to the call by stakeholders to intervene in the crisis, the commission constituted a Tripartite Committee comprising representatives of both states to interface with stakeholders toward finding a lasting solution to the seemingly intractable crisis.

He added that the committee which commenced its work reached an agreement with the states on the sharing of assets and liabilities of LAUTECH by Oyo and Osun states.

“It is gratifying to note that after extensive deliberations, negotiations and consultations, both owner states mutually agreed terms and the joint ownership of LAUTECH was formally dissolved.

“The mutually agreed dissolution was formalised through the signing of a memorandum of agreement by the Executive Governors of Oyo and Osun states witnessed by the Attorneys-General of both states, giving legal effect to the transfer of ownership of LAUTECH to Oyo state and the College of Health Sciences to the Government of Osun state.

The resolution agreement we learnt in part maintains that, “All indigenes of the two States working in either of the two entities shall retain all their rights and obligations as stipulated in their letters of engagement and that all students from the two States in the two entities for all times and purposes shall be treated as students of the owner States”.

“The NUC wishes to commend and express its profound gratitude to the governors of both states for their exemplary statesmanship, leadership and tremendous sacrifice by putting the interest of LAUTECH and it’s over 30,000 students above political and other considerations,” he said.