By: IndyPress News Desk

The President of the Students’ Union, Aweda Bolaji, and the General Secretary, Ogundejo Japheth, have separately tendered apologies for disrespecting an August 17th 2024 congress, and for disregarding its resolutions, IndyPress reports.

How It Started?

A petition, on Wednesday 21 August 2024, queried the ‘brazen attempt’ by the UI’SU President, Aweda Bolaji and the General Secretary, Ogundejo Japheth, disrespect of students, as well as their disregard for a resolution passed during a general meeting, which held on Saturday, August 17, 2024.

The petition claimed that the Union leaders walked out on the mass of students who had gathered to deliberate on bothering concerns of the Union; particularly the outrageous fee increment.

The 3-page petition was jointly written and signed by six students; Aduwo Ayodele, Nice Linus, Olamide Gbadegesin, Michael Awoyemi, Adewumi Damilare and Bolaji Eiyeke.

Titled “Petition Against The Disrespect And Falsification Of Congress Resolutions By The UI’SU Executive Council”, the letter called out the leadership of the Students’ Union for abruptly leaving the congress ground without formal adjournment of the general meeting of the Union, and for scraping out a Congress resolution which demanded the ‘suspension of fee portal’ – as the struggle against fee hike protracted.

“We, the undersigned students of the University of Ibadan, hereby write to petition the University of Ibadan Students’ Union leadership for its heinous disrespect, by walking out on students at the last Congress when the session had not been formally adjourned, as well as for falsifying the resolutions of the last Congress; held on Saturday, 17th of August, 2024,” the petition reads.

“At the Congress, students used the moment to bring the several intimidations ongoing in different departments and faculties, luring students to pay fees before tests and registrations, which was against the words of the management that the University Governing Council will sit to review the hike in fee and get back to the Students’ Union, to the Union’s notice,” the petition further reads.

“Sad to discover, the resolution released by the Students’ Union did not capture the Congress resolutions, which the President acknowledged and publicly read out before abruptly leaving the congress. We find the misconduct of leaving the Congress abruptly a gross disrespect to the congress, being the apex organ of the Students’ Union, and the falsification of the resolutions; a breach of the constitution which recognizes the congress as the final decision making organ,” the petition stated.

The petitioners in the letter demanded a correction of the Congress resolutions within a 5-hour stipulated time.

“Against this backdrop, we unequivocally demand a correction of the error within 5-hour of the receipt of this petition. We make this conscious demand with the expectation that the leadership of the Students’ Union will respect the consensus decision of the Congress,” the letter concluded.

Despite presenting a UCJ live recording of the congress and calling the attention of the leadership of the Students’ Union leadership to the disregard, no official correspondence addressed the petition by the students, within the set time-range.

The UI’SRC Disciplinary Committee Discovery

On Saturday, 25th August 2024, the Disciplinary Committee, chaired by Honorable Egboche Iyanu, invited the President, Vice President, and the Speaker of the union to a meeting for questioning, following the petition letter which the Legislative Council received.

Subsequently, the Disciplinary Committee reviewed a UCJ YouTube live report of the congress to obtain concrete facts regarding the events of the Congress.

In the video, the Disciplinary Committee discovered that there were four congress resolutions, as indicated by the six students’ petition.

“Extracted Resolutions from the Video: 1. The University management should release a memo halting all departments from using school fee payment or course registration forms as a requirement for registrations, practical, and tests. 2. A three-day ultimatum for the school management to respond to the students. 3. The payment portal should be suspended. 4. A memo should be released within three days by the union leadership; otherwise, they should resign,” the Disciplinary Committee report noted.

“The committee noted that the third point from the UCJ video was not included in the published union resolution. Additionally, the committee observed that the President, General Secretary, and Speaker left the Congress prematurely, without addressing the AOB (Any Other Business),” the Disciplinary Committee’s report added.

On the disrespect and disregard for the Congress, “the committee finds the President, General Secretary and speaker guilty of this allegation,” it noted.

On falsification of Congress resolutions, the committee noted that “it would rather describe the offense as ‘omission of Congress resolution’ and finds both the President and General Secretary guilty as they were the chairman and secretary of the 17th of August, 2024 congress respectively,” the report stated.

Recommending Punitive Measures

The Disciplinary Committee recommended that the President and General Secretary of the Students’ Union, should write an apology letter to the general student populace and deliver a physical apology statement on the floor of the house for disregarding and disrespecting Congress, as well as omitting a resolution.

Also, “the President and the General Secretary were to pay a fine of ₦5,000 to the Union account through the Student Union Representative Council within 48 hours,” another recommendation read.

Thirdly, the President and General Secretary were to serve and complete 48-hours of community service at the University’s Health Centre (Jaja Clinic).

Busoye Matthias: The Right Honorable Speaker’s Sin and Disciplinary Recommendation 

The Disciplinary Committee also apportioned sanctions to the Speaker of the UI’SRC, Rt. Honorable Opegbemi Busoye Matthias, who sat alongside the President and General Secretary during the entire proceeding of the Congress, before it was all of a sudden ended.

The Speaker had failed to call the President and General Secretary to order for ending the congress abruptly.

“Write an apology letter to the general student populace and deliver a physical apology statement on the floor of the house for disregarding and disrespecting Congress,” the Disciplinary Committee recommended.

All the recommendations by the Disciplinary Committee were adopted at the fourth ordinary sitting of the Students’ Representative Council, held on 16th November 2024.

Acknowledging the Guilts: Apology Letters 

The President and General Secretary, Aweda Bolaji and Ogundejo Japheth respectively, have tendered apologies for disrespecting the congress of students, as well as their disregard for one of the resolutions of the Congress; which was to effect the closure of the fee portal.

Their apology letters were addressed to all the University of Ibadan students.

“I write to sincerely apologize for my actions at the Congress that was held on Saturday, August 16th, 2024, for disregarding and disrespecting Congress and omitting a resolution. As the President of the union, I am committed to upholding our constitution and would never intentionally violate our laws. I recognize that I have made a mistake and I am truly sorry for any disappointment I may have caused. I assure you that I have taken steps to ensure that such actions will not occur again in the future,” the SU President apologized.

“I am committed to learning from this experience and working to rebuild trust and respect within our students’ community. Once again, I apologize for my actions and any harm they may have caused. I am committed to doing better and serving with the utmost respect and dedication” Aweda’s apology concluded.

The General Secretary, Ogundejo Japheth also admitted and apologized for his disregard and disrespect for the Congress and her resolution held in August.

“As the General Secretary, I am committed to upholding the values of respect, integrity, and accountability. I recognize that I fell short of these values, and I am truly sorry for any disappointment I may have caused. I assure you that I have taken steps to ensure that such actions will not occur again in the future. I am committed to learning from this experience and working to rebuild trust and respect within our students’ community,” the General Secretary, Ogundejo Japheth acknowledged.

Further Disregard, Unheeded Sanctions 

As at Saturday, January 11 2025, when the UI’SRC held its fifth ordinary sitting, the Students’ Union President, Aweda Bolaji and the General Secretary, Ogundejo Japheth had neither served the community service sanction nor paid the levied fine, IndyPress reports.

Aweda Bolaji in a letter addressed to the Resolution Implementation Committee, dated 5th December, described the fine as outrageous and as such that he would not be able to pay.

The President also refused to serve the community service in Jaja due to a minor accident (fell from the staircase), which made him sprain his shoulder shortly before the resolution of the meeting was forwarded.

“I want to first express my acceptance of the resolution and my wrongdoing during the Congress. However, I would like to make a plea regarding resolution number 2, which states “Pay a fine of ₦5,000 to the Union account”. Unfortunately, I am unable to pay this fine at this point in time due to prevailing economic conditions. I am currently facing financial difficulties, and I have spent all of my money on union-related activities. At this time, I am unable to afford an outrageous fine of 5,000 naira. I hope that the Students Representative Council (SRC) will take this into consideration and relax the punishment slightly,” the Union President claimed.

“Also, I had a minor accident (fell from the staircase) which made me sprain my shoulder shortly before the resolution of the meeting was forwarded. Since then, I have been advised by the physiotherapy unit of the university health center not to use my right arm (my dominant arm) for anything heavy till further notice, making it difficult for me to complete the community service,” Aweda Bolaji said.

The General Secretary, Ogundejo Japheth also said the fine was ‘outrageous’.

IndyPress observed that the letter by the General Secretary to Resolution Implementation Committee was a direct imitation of the President’s letter, except that he did not fall from a staircase.

The General Secretary, Japheth did not state any reason for disobeying the sanction on community service.