On September 13, 2025, Honourable Olanrewaju Basit Olatunde, Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the University of Ibadan Students’ Representative Council (UI’SRC), presented a report detailing allegations of financial misconduct against some members of the Covenant Odedele-led Students’ Union Executive Committee.

The report highlighted allegations of “financial misappropriation, breach of fiduciary duty, fiscal irresponsibility, and violation of constitutional provisions, constituting gross misconduct, committed separately by Covenant Odedele (President), Segun Olowu (General Secretary), and Joshua Bioku (Treasurer).

Also, the Assistant General Secretary was uniquely accused of falsification, financial misappropriation, and violating constitutional provisions on accountability and financial management.

The Students’ Union House Secretary, Adeyemi Oluwaseun, was accused of financial misconduct involving the unauthorized handling of union funds, diverting monies meant for official purposes into his personal account, including income from UI’SU bus rentals and SUB tenants, and making unapproved disbursements and expenditures without authorization.

While the allegations are yet to be proven, they point to concerns that members of the Union’s executive committee, entrusted with safeguarding students’ interests, may have engaged in self-enrichment and constitutional breaches.

The Background

A letter jointly signed by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Shoge Quadri and Clerk Adedeji Praise, on August 29th, referred certain officers of the Executive Committee to the Disciplinary Committee for investigation and disciplinary measures.

The letter was titled, “Notice of Referral of Certain Members of the Executive Committee of the University of Ibadan Students’ Union for Appropriate Disciplinary Action”.

Revelation 1: ‘Team Auspicious’ Unauthorized Central Bank of Nigeria Loan, Treasurer’s Personal Account Breach, Other Questionable Funds,

Based on the SRC’s referral and Audit Committee’s findings, “the President, General Secretary and Treasurer unconstitutionally authorised a ₦2,000,000 (two million) loan without SRC or Congress ratification.”

“Suspicious disbursements of ₦500,000 (27th June 2025) and ₦1,500,000 (1st July 2025) were made into the Treasurer’s personal account,” the Disciplinary Committee report stated.

More revealing, the Audit Committee, in a separate report, revealed that five large transfers were received by the Treasurer, Joshua Bioku, into his personal account.

They are as follows: ₦2,001,000 on 12th May, ₦1,820,000 on 16th May, ₦300,000 on 26th May, ₦500,000 on 27th June, and ₦1,500,000 on 1st July, without supporting records or clear approvals for the received credit transfers.

The Audit Committee stated, “We also found that on 27th June 2025, a loan of ₦2,000,000 was collected from the CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA (CBN) by the Union Executives without informing or seeking the approval of the SRC.”

“On that same day, ₦500,000 from the loan went into the Treasurer’s account, followed by another ₦1,500,000 on 1st July 2025,” it added.

The Disciplinary Committee also noted that the bursary scheme claimed to have benefited “about 40 students” could not be verified.

Resulting from the aforementioned, the General Secretary and Treasurer, as co-signatories, were found jointly and severally liable.

The Disciplinary report stated that Mr Bioku was summoned by the Audit Committee on two occasions, first on July 11 and again on August 8. He used an excuse such as an impromptu class to evade interrogation at the first invitation.

However, he did not appear before the committee to address the concerns or clear the executives of any allegations of financial misrepresentation.

The Union executives’ failure to comply has been described as a blatant disregard for the constitution, a serious breach of accountability and transparency, and a severe case of financial misconduct.

A Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) loan secured without consent or approval, with no clear explanation of its purpose, casts serious suspicion on the Covenant Odedele-led UISU administration.

Revelation 2: AGS Freshers’ Week Financial Report – Where is ₦1,519,550?

Article V (4a) of the UI’SU Constitution states that the Assistant General Secretary is responsible for coordinating the Welcome Week activities for fresh students.

However, the Audit Committee’s investigation has raised serious concerns, with Mr Olawoye facing allegations of financial inconsistency, possible misappropriation, ghost expenditures, and falsification of records, charges that remain pressed against him and are yet to be disproved.

Across these records, glaring discrepancies emerged, as the UI’SRC Finance Committee approved ₦4,666,460 for the Freshers’ Week event, the Project and Events Monitoring Committee confirmed only ₦2,856,810 as actual expenditure, yet the AGS’s account claimed a total of ₦4,376,360 had been spent.

The AGS’s financial figures tell a troubling story, revealing a shortfall of ₦290,100 between what the Finance Committee approved and what he reported, and an even more disturbing gap of ₦1,519,550 between his report and the Monitoring Committee’s findings, raising serious questions and demanding clear answers.

To address these concerns, the Finance and Monitoring Committees’ chairmen and the AGS were invited to a meeting on July 11, 2025, where all claimed to have done their duties, but when asked to provide receipts, pictures, banners, and other proof, the AGS only submitted 30 graphics on August 9, unable to provide other essential financial evidence.

By September 14, almost four months after the Freshers’ Week held between May 11 and May 17, the AGS, Mr Olawoye, had still failed to provide the outstanding documents or the “corrected report” he had earlier promised.

The Audit Committee concluded that the AGS’s conduct showed a clear pattern of failing to account for funds, giving contradictory reports through unaligned documents, obstructing the Monitoring Committee’s oversight, and deliberately neglecting established rules and processes.

Financial Justice Delayed Can Be Justice Denied

Investigations into all allegations are ongoing, with the uniformly implicated executive committee members having submitted formal responses to the Disciplinary Committee, while the House Secretary and Assistant General Secretary’s defenses are awaited, after which the responses will be reviewed and a physical disciplinary hearing will take place.

However, given the Audit Committee’s revelations, the SRC should have immediately suspended the indicted executives, as constitutionally required under “ARTICLE VIII: Termination of Membership of the Executive Committee.”

“(ii) A member of the Executive Committee shall be suspended from office after a prima facie case of misconduct has been established by a Committee of the SRC (Council), a resolution passed by 2/3 majority of the members voting at an ordinary meeting of Council. (iii) The Council shall sit after 21 days to review its earlier decision on such a suspended officer,” the UI’SU constitution stated.

The term ‘prima facie’ means “based on first impression or presumed correct until proven otherwise,” and despite the Audit committee establishing actions and inactions constituting allegations of misconduct, the concerned executives still hold office as of press time.

Equally troubling is the consistently vague resolution of the Rt. Hon. Shoge Quadri-led SRC, which fail to provide explanatory details on the subject above and circulate same to the entire student community, raising concerns about the Council’s duty to keep students informed of its operations.

This accountability report was jointly produced by IndyPress, AfasPress, ZikPress, History Press, in affiliation with the Union of Campus Journalists, University of Ibadan.