After weeks of waiting,
several students of the Obafemi Awolowo University were quite shocked when the
Electoral Commission sealed the inclusion of the 2.5 CGPA requirement in the
electoral guidelines for the conduction of the Students’ Union elections for
the 2016/2017 Academic Session.
In the congress which
was the first of its kind since the suspension of the activities of the Obafemi
Awolowo University Students’ Union, the
ban on campaigns was lifted and the guidelines were spelt out by the commission.
The dates of the Elections were also announced at the floor of the congress.
However, things got
rather comical when the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Fadele Olusola,
upon the declaration of the 2.5 CGPA requirement started to run out of the
congress, whilst singing the Great Ife anthem. Certain persons have come out to
claim that the actions of the chairman were to ensure his security, but then
some other perspectives believe that the Chairman and his Committee might have
had a personal agenda at the congress as the meeting did not, as a matter of
fact, represent the true intentions of the Great Ife Students.
It is noteworthy to remember the 2.5 CGPA
requirement was hotly debated at the last union elections as despite the fact
that it disenfranchised certain candidates, several other candidates were
allowed by the then Electoral Commission to contest. The controversy eventually
led to the matter being taken to the Congress where it was resolved that the
criteria being alien to the Union’s constitution be scrapped. Hopefully this
time, the commission sticks to its word. More details on the guidelines and Calendar to be released in due course.
0 comments: