The Lagos State House of Assembly has announced that it will summon the Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Mr Tolani Akibu, the Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, the tertiary institution’s Senate, and other top officials in response to recent allegations of extortion and certificate racketeering levelled against the school.
The invitation came in response to a news item issued by an online news source on Monday.
According to the story, a certificate racketeering organisation sold genuine Lagos State University diplomas for between N2m and N3m, depending on the difficulty of the course concerned.
In a statement made available by Media Assistant to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Eromosele Ebhomele, the Speaker of the House, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, noted that the source of the story could be suspicious and not trustworthy, saying, “because of its tendency to blackmail, agreed that the concerned officials of the institution be invited so that facts about the allegation could be unearthed for the sake of the reputation of the school.”
Obasa, an alumnus of the institution, said, “I agree that the committee should invite those to be invited to establish facts about the allegation, but we must not because of that destroy our institution’s reputation.”
However, the Speaker said should anyone be found wanting, they would be sanctioned.
The statement revealed that Mr Owolabi Ajani, who moved the motion under ‘Matter of Urgent Public Importance,’ told his colleagues that there was a need to invite the commissioner, the VC and others for the House to unravel the facts behind the allegation.
Ajani noted that LASU had maintained a high level of integrity over the years, saying that this must be sustained.
“While Honourable Sa’ad Olumoh urged that the investigation should involve people in the Information and Communication Technology unit of the institution, Honourable Desmond Elliot and his colleague, Ladi Ajomale, who said they attended LASU, supported that the allegation be investigated,” the statement added.