•President and VP's Budgets not fully reviewed.
• We acted with probity, accountability, and in the best interest of Great Ife students- Hon. Wale Oladebo.
Ayoola Omole
The Budgetary and Finance committee, Obafemi Awolowo University Students’ Union, is expected to Thursday 12th October, approach the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) with a 26-page document containing harmonized budget items for union officers, with Budget Sitting to follow on Saturday. This was revealed in an extensive interview with the committee’s chairman, Honorable Wale Oladebo. The claim is further backed by a Parliamentary Session notification released by the Clerk of the House, in which ‘Submission of Budget’ is listed the 8th agendum.
Other matters on agenda which are up for consideration on Thursday include: ‘Ratification of Security Committee’ and ‘Report of All Committees’. Honorable Oladebo envisaged that a Budget Sitting would be subsequently convened on Saturday, in the event that Thurday’s submission goes smoothly. Copies of the document is scheduled to be made available to every member of the parliament on Thursday while the House debates and ratifies the budget Saturday.
It is widely believed that the budget submission is long overdue, as students go into the academic session’s final lap. For an administration elected late last session, expectations are that the budget is at its implementation stage by now. While Honorable Wale Oladebo subscribes to such opinion, he however explained that his committee started out on a weak footing and endured an unfriendly political atmosphere. He said according to constitutional provisions, the Budgetary and Finance committee ought to have been constituted by the preceding parliament but that constitutional framework, designed by intent to enable the committee hit the ground running, was dealt a blow when union activities were proscribed and only reinstated last session.
“If you are conversant with the constitution of Great Ife Students’ Union, you will understand that the B&F committee is constituted by the out-going union officers. You will agree with me that we did not have any immediate out-going SRC members as at the time. It was not the responsibility of the current parliament to appointment members of the committee”.
Explaining how the Budgetary and Finance committee was plagued by unpredictable and uncertain political atmosphere, he cited as an instance, a period when the offices set aside for certain committees were locked up and members denied access “There was a time when the President said he did not recognize constituted committees”.
In the face of these complications, the committee persevered and carried out its activities in a unique fashion to ensure probity and accountability. “Some halls of residence (officers) over the years have been using personal accounts to run the affairs of their jurisdictions but immediately we came on board, we mandated everyone to open a corporate account for their different halls”, he said.
Findings revealed that although the constitution stipulates that budget be passed within the first 14 days of a new administration, that deadline has never been met.
Save for the offices of President and Vice-President, the Budgetary and Finance committee fully entertained and reviewed budgets submitted by every union officer. Honourable Oladebo said the ‘minor’ rift which ensued between the president, Ibukun Edward (Dr. Ibk) and a member of his committee stalled the president's defense. He said the committee had only reviewed a few items off his budget before the outburst.
The reported clash between the Director of Socials, Adedayo Afolabi (Lamba) and Vice President, Jacob Toisin (Emerald) proved a mitigating factor against the budget review process. The Vice President did not appear before the committee for her presentation, given her suspension, along with the DOS, by the school management. However, Lamba had defended and had his budget reviewed weeks before his suspension. The Buget
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