By IndyPress Social Justice Desk

The opinion polls created by the University of Ibadan Students’ Union (UI SU) Public Relations Officer, Olasukanmi Alabi, ahead of the October 31, 2026 election have raised questions about the responsibility of union officers during the electoral process.

The controversy followed the creation of polls featuring candidates for contested executive positions on the UI SU WhatsApp Channel, a platform with over 9,000 subscribers, on Wednesday, October 28, 2026.

Before the polls were created, the channel handler, whose identity is yet to be confirmed, had posted that “We’ll be having our UISU election poll later this evening.”

When contacted by IndyPress on the motive behind the polls in the evening of the same day, Olasukanmi stated that they were created to assess public opinion ahead of the election.

“The polls were created to assess public opinion offering Uites the platform to make their voices known and seen. It’s a poll and not an election,” he said.

However, the creation of the polls by a union official has raised questions about the appropriateness of such an exercise ahead of the election, particularly given the union’s influence in shaping public opinion.

When asked who made the initial announcement, Olasukanmi did not provide a response.

As provided in Article VI subsection 1 of the union’s constitution “In their conduct of the affairs of the Union, officials shall be individually or jointly responsible for any act or omission perpetrated in the performance of their duties.”

While these actions may not be explicitly restricted by the constitution, it raises serious ethical and procedural questions since there was an ongoing electoral process as well as what was the intention of the handler in doing so.

Despite the first poll, additional polls were created on Thursday, October 29, 2026, and Olasukanmi was observed forwarding them across various groups.

Recall that a similar occurrence was recorded in the Faculty of Arts, where the outgoing AFAS President, Adeyefa Ebenezer, popularly known as “Big Eben,” conducted opinion polls through his private WhatsApp channel ahead of the AFAS election.

Such precedents have raised questions about the role of union officers and other student leaders in conducting opinion polls ahead of student elections while serving as a reference point for other student influencers.

Efforts to obtain a comment from the Chairman of Planning and Logistics of the Students’ Union Electoral Commission (SUEC), Agboola Oluwaseyi Ezekiel were unsuccessful, as messages sent to him had yet to receive a response as of the time of filing this report.