By Fawaz Balogun

The Public Relations Officer of the Great Independence Hall of Residence, Hammed Sodiq Akinkunmi, (Sperrow), has defended the removal of the hall’s Elders’ Council Treasurer, Sulaimon Afees.

He cited Afees support for an opposing candidate in the forthcoming UI SU election and the various concerns that have been raised over the disclosure of campaign plans.

Sodiq made this known during a conversation with an IndyPress correspondent on Sunday, October 25, 2026, while responding to questions about his involvement in the recent circulated memo concerning Afeez’s removal.

He said he did not know why Afeez was removed from the Elders’ Council but confirmed that he had been removed from several official Indy groups by the hall’s Administrator General.

“To begin with, I am just an elder in the Elders’ Council. Also, I am a stakeholder in the hall. I trended it because I am the PRO of the hall, and I need to get more information to Katangites,” he said.

Asked whether other individuals had also been removed from the groups, Sodiq said Afeez was the only person he knew to have been removed from all official Indy groups.

He attributed the removal from the groups to the Administrator General of the hall.

Explaining his position, Sodiq said that although members were free to support any candidate of their choice, individuals occupying influential positions within the hall were expected to consider the implications of their actions.

“Of course, it is democracy, and anybody can support any candidate they want to support, but on the other hand, you still have to have great respect for the opposition,” he said.

He argued that Afeez’s position within the hall made his alleged support for an opposing candidate particularly significant, noting that he had previously chaired meetings with representatives of other halls to discuss alliances ahead of the forthcoming election.

“We were together at the beginning of this second semester, we have had stakeholders’ meetings in different halls. It was this particular person [Afees] that chaired meetings with these halls and in the meeting, we discussed, particularly about the forthcoming election. Now imagine someone that chaired our meeting with others halls trending or now supporting our opponent.”

He questioned the implications of someone who had chaired such meetings subsequently campaigning for an opposing candidate.

“This particular person is not just an ordinary Katangite. This person is someone who is well respected in the hall, and a lot of Katangites are looking up to him,” he said.

Sodiq added that Afeez’s alleged campaign activities had attracted attention among freshers in the hall.

He said Afeez had been openly campaigning for an opposing candidate within the hall and wearing the candidate’s campaign tag, adding that some freshers had raised questions about his activities.

According to Sodiq, the activities began approximately two to three weeks before the interview.

He said the hall’s leadership initially allowed Afeez to continue his activities but became concerned when he allegedly shared the opposing candidate’s name in an official group.

“Till this evening, when he started trending the opponent’s name in our group, that carried more weight because it was no longer just about the candidate,” he said.

Sodiq also alleged that some of the manifestos of the hall’s preferred candidates had begun to appear in the opposing candidate’s manifesto, raising suspicions that confidential campaign information might have been disclosed.

“Now some of the things that we discovered are in our candidates’ manifestos, some of his manifestos started reflecting in the Opponent’s manifesto. We are not saying he is the one. We cannot risk this, especially when you know that you are so close to us. We cannot trust him with our information,” he noted.

Defending the decision to remove Afeez from the Elders’ Council, Sodiq argued that membership involved more than being a finalist, describing the council as a group of Katangites expected to demonstrate responsibility towards the hall.

“The Elders’ Council of Indy is not just about being a finalist; it is a group of responsible Katangites, and to be responsible as a Katangite, you have to be responsible to the hall. So far you are not serving that duty any longer, you have no business in being there,” he said.

He added that while the decision did not affect Afeez’s status as a resident of the hall, the leadership could remove him from groups and bodies within the hall’s community.

Sodiq further alleged that the timing of the opposing candidate’s campaign activities had raised concerns about possible leaks of the hall’s campaign strategy.

“Somebody must be fetching our information and be giving them our information, and we cannot risk losing more information,” he said.

He also criticised Afeez’s decision to publicise his removal, arguing that he should have first sought an explanation from those responsible for the decision.

The Interview was conducted by Gbayesola Samuel.