Suspended College Provost Drags Governing Council, Others To Court

The suspended Provost of the Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun, Prof. Jimoh Afolabi, has dragged the state government and Chairman of the Governing Council of the institution, Mr. Peter Babalola, before the National Industrial Court, sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Afolabi was suspended by Governor Ademola Adeleke on January 26, 2024, for alleged financial impropriety.

He had initiated the suit before he was suspended as the provost of the college to challenge the governing council’s decision to set up a probe panel to investigate him while in office.

During the hearing of the suit before Justice Hasan Yakubu on Tuesday, Mr. Adesola Adebisi, counsel for Afolabi, argued that the defendants did not file any process before the court but were only represented.

Adebisi said Afolabi remained the provost of the college in the face of the law because the suit had been instituted before his suspension. 

He averred: “The suit was filed consequent upon the invitation of my client (Afolabi) before an investigative panel set up by the Chairman, Governing Council, of the institution. My client should not be seen as being removed from office, as the matter had been instituted before his purported suspension and subsequent removal from office.

“In the face of the law, Afolabi remains the Provost of the Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun. Our resolve on this matter is that part of our prayers before the court is to challenge the purported suspension of my client.

However, counsel to the defendants, Messrs. Muyiwa Ogunleye and Adewale Ishola, apologised to the court for their failure to file their processes.

Ogunleye, who represented the state government, and Ishola, who was counsel for Babalola, promised the court to present their processes at the next date of the case.

Justice Yakubu subsequently adjourned the case till April 17, 2024, for further hearing.