University of Ibadan Students’ Union President, Adewole Yinka has, on behalf of the students’ union, endorsed the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu.

Mascot, as he is widely known, declared the union’s support for Tinubu during a meeting between stakeholders of the APC, led by Seyi Tinubu, son of the APC candidates, and students leaders in Southwest.

“I think this is the first time in Nigeria that we are going to see a politician’s son moving around.

“Today, the only institution in Nigeria that has… And on Thursday, we expect that Asiwaju will be in the University of Ibadan. We mobilized massively and today I am declaring that the support of the premier University of Ibadan will be for Asiwaju Ahmed,” Mascot was quoted saying during the event.

This declaration has however been met with strong disapproval from several students in the institution who described the President’s action as disingenuous.

They noted that it is unacceptable for the union’s President to declare the support of students for a candidate without consulting them.

Reacting to the development, Ola, a student of the Faculty of Social Science, likened Mascot’s action to a betrayal of the trust placed in him by students of the institution.

“Leadership is a huge responsibility and a big part of it is the constant reminder that the people you represent are individuals with different views and opinions,” Ola said.

She explained that it is however “a show of disrespect to the people you serve when you as a leader state a controversial opinion as their representative without due consultation with the people you claim to serve.”

In the same vein, a student leader who spoke anonymously described Mascot’s action as selfish.

“One thing I know for sure is all humans are selfish. But ideally, things should be done right. Go after whatever you desire, but not necessarily at the expense of others’ right,” the student leader was quoted saying.

I Made A Mistake — Mascot Reacts

Reacting to students’ criticism of his endorsement , Mascot explained to IndyPress that he made a mistake at the event.

“I am the current chairman of all Student union Presidents in SouthWest. So at the meeting I was called up to talk and give my popular opinion.

“I made a mistake to say that UI students had endorsed Tinubu. What I want to say is that there is a group of students in UI known as Premier Progressives working for Tinubu,” Mascot noted as he recanted his declaration.

“Personally, I’ll vote for Peter Obi,” he added.