CEC RECONSIDERS CONGRESS DATE AFTER IT WAS GRILLED BY UNION MEMBERS

The Central Executive Council, CEC, Obafemi Awolowo University, on Tuesday reviewed its decision to postpone a much awaited union congress to the 13th of June, and resolved to instead hold it on Thursday, 8th of June.

The congress was initially scheduled for the 7th of June before it was abruptly postponed, invoking criticism among numerous amounts of students, who questioned the rationale behind what they considered not only as rash, but in equal measure suspicious move by the CEC who may have been motivated by political permutations rather than the mandate to act in the best interest of the union members who it represented.

As the first congress presided over by a union president since members of the Dr-Ibk led administration were sworn into office, as well as the reinstatement of the Obafemi Awolowo University Student Union, it was evidently viewed as symbolic, thoroughly discussed and prepared for.

The congress is expected as a platform to assess how the newly elected leaders have so far executed campaign promises on the back of which they rode into various offices, air opinion, identify emerging issues bothering on welfare, accommodation, transportation, security, religious crisis and holistically proffer solutions to these arising matters in the spirit of prevailing democratic tradition.

It was gathered that the president failed to carry other members of the executive along, before he postponed the congress as constitutionally dictated, thereby violating Article 2 Subsection 4 of the constitution: “Congress shall take decisions on matters which in the opinion of the Central Executive Council or the SRC are beyond their powers”.

The PRO, Okediji Simon (Zuma), whose signature did not feature on the press release conveying information of the postponement, along with some other members of the executive, were allegedly sidelined in the scheme of things, sparking insinuations of foul play on the part of the president.

Students as well decried desertion of the press release in detailing genuine reasons which led to the alteration in the date of such important event in OAU community, reckoning the “negligent” act as lack of respect for the generality of OAU students and affront on democratic principles. It would be recalled that there were reports that Dr. Ibk was allegedly disgruntled by committees which have been set up by the Students’ Representative Council, because his allies were not present in these committees, and therefore sought to overturn the constitution of the committees.

The CEC’s latest press release however tendered “unreserved apology for the change in earlier announced date and communicated that the congress had been fixed for Thursday, 8th June, by 4pm at Amphitheatre.

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