Students accuse Adeleke’s aide, Emir as mastermind
Security report, petition against aspirant reasons for shifting – DSA
I have been receiving threats – ISEC chair
Crisis has engulfed the Osun State Polytechnic, Iree as the students and management are trading words over eleventh hour postponement of Students Union Government elections.
Some students who spoke with InsightMedia on condition of anonymity accused an aide to Governor Ademola Adeleke, Olalekan Oyeyemi also known as Emir and the Dean of the Students Affairs, Dr Tope Abiola as being behind the disruption of the electoral process.
They are insisting that management a d the Governing Council must allow the elections to hold before the commencement of examination.
The issues
According to one of our sources, the management was poised on imposing Emir as the President of SUG last year but due to his arrest and detention by the police, he was unable to contest and instead of allowing the election to hold, the management appointed caretaker committee for students union.
This year, the students insisted on having elections. This led to the constitution of the Independent Students Electoral Committee (ISEC) led by Gere David.
The ISEC, after days of preparation, fixed yesterday, Friday, September 6 for the election and two leading candidates have been canvassing for the position of President. The voting has been installed on the website and every students already saw it.
“The Governor’s aide has a preferred candidate in Johnson Oluwadamilare (Pappy Jay) and he and some top management officials of the institution are hellbent on bringing him on board as the President. The candidate is not popular. Most students want Fabulous (Ajani Habeeb) as the President. But they want to impose Pappy Jay on us” The source, who is also a student, said.
Management hijack elections after a meeting in Osogbo
A statement by the ISEC Chairman, Secretary and Public Relations Officer Gere David, Falaye Henry and Akinteye Blessing respectively revealed that the school management has hijacked the electoral process at the eleventh hour with no consultation with the students.
The statement reads released on Friday morning partly reads, “It has come to the attention of the Independent Students Electoral Commission (ISEC) that the school management has unilaterally taken control of the election process without prior notice or consultation with the ISEC. This move effectively sidelines the authority of the ISEC and undermines the democratic process.
“Regrettably, the school management has also postponed the election till further notice without informing or seeking input from the ISEC. This decision was made without following due process or respecting the autonomy of the ISEC as the governing body for student elections.
“Please be aware that the ISEC was not informed or consulted about this postponement. The actions taken by the management undermine the principles of democracy and student representation that the ISEC was established to uphold.”
The student electoral body urged all students to remain calm and vigilant during this situation, stating that it “remains committed to advocating for transparency, fairness, and student involvement in the electoral process. Further updates will be communicated as necessary.”
Sources within the campus also told InsightMedia that the decision to postpone the election was made after a meeting in Osogbo in Osogbo.
The Chairman of ISEC was allegedly invited to attend the meeting with some top management officials including the Rector but he turned down the invitation.
The political colouration
Some students who spoke with InsightMedia also accused some individuals within the management of painting one of the aspirants, Ajani Habeeb as a member of the All Progressives Congress to the Chairman of the Governing Council, Mr Diran Ayanbeku and other top official of the State government.
“They have gone to tell the Chairman of the Governing Council that Fabulous (Ajani Habeeb) is a member of the APC and that some APC people are supporting him. This is a lie that Emir and some top management officials are spreading around.”
Security report, petition against aspirant reasons for shifting – DSA
When contacted, the Dean of the Students Affairs, Dr Tope Abiola said the management did not cancel the elections but only postponed it due to security reports and a petition written against one of the presidential aspirants.
Abiola said the electoral body is aware of the decision as the school will not allow the security of the students to be jeopardized.
The DSA said, “The security reports is always unexplainable. We can’t query the nitty-gritty of the report. But what they said is that there’s a likelihood that students go on rampage if the particular candidate that they want doesn’t emerge. You know an election is head or tail. We can’t predict what could happen.”
Reacting to the allegations that management has taken over the election, Abiola said “that’s a lie. The management constituted the ISEC in accordance with their constitution. I inaugurated them. We have even worked together to ensure we have online voting.”
Speaking on the petition, Abiola said some students wrote against an aspirant, Ajani Habeeb over alleged violation of electoral guidelines and it was sent to the Governing Council to decide and the decision of the Governing Council is that the election should be postponed.
“The petition was written and the Commissioner for Education and Governing Council were copied. So the Governing Council thought it wise to postpone the election. It’s just a postponement.”
When asked if he, the management team and Governing Council took decision based on political colouration and if Emir is not using his influence on the process, Abiola said he’s hearing about political colouration for the first time.
“I’m hearing that for the first time. No one has told me that before. Emir is just a student like every other. He doesn’t wear special cap to indicate he’s an aide to the Governor.”
Abiola insisted that examination will go ahead on Monday and that the timetable will be out on Saturday (Today). He said “aggrieved students may decide not to participate in the examination. After all, nothing is compulsory in higher institution.”
I have been receiving threats – ISEC Chair
Speaking with InsightMedia, Gere David spoke on the petition that the Dr Abiola referred, stating that it came late and treating it will go against the constitution.
He said, “the ISEC has issued a query to the aspirant on that matter and his response was submitted at the right time. We considered his response as genuine as we cleared him. Our constitution doesn’t allow us to disqualify any candidate less than 72 hours before election. The petition was submitted less than 24 hours to the election and the constitution says it must be submitted minimum of 72 hours to the election. When it was submitted, I was called to the office of the Registrar and I explained. But the DSA asked me to leave that he will get back to me.
“Later on Thursday, I was invited to a meeting in Osogbo by the DSA but I didn’t attend and by midnight on Friday, I saw a memo postponing the election.” David said.
The student electoral body chief said he has been receiving threats from different quarters on this election. “For days now, I have been receiving threats from different quarters. That’s why I ran into hiding and switched off my phone.”
