Posted by Olanrewaju Oyedeji
The students of Obafemi Awolowo University on Thursday engaged themselves in a free for all over controversies surrounding the purchase of a bus worth N2.5 million by the Students Union.
Trouble had been brewing since the union acquired the bus under controversial circumstances. The bus was to be used as a commercial transport shuttle around the university.
Findings by PREMIUM TIMES, however, showed that claims by the union’s Financial Secretary, Omisakin Kehinde, that the bus was purchased for N2.9 million did not tally with the actual value of N2.5 million written on the receipt.
The union had to change their narration on the purchase upon the discovery, accepting that it paid only N2.5 million for the bus.
The President of the union, Oyekan Ibukun, called a congress on Thursday, following the demand of students asking to be addressed on the issues.
He was however ruffled when it was demanded that he step aside from presiding over the congress in view of the allegations against his leadership.
Mr. Ibukun rebuffed the move, resulting in a fight among the students.
The students fought in different locations within the campus, while Mr. Ibukun was beaten up with his clothes torn in shreds.
The wild fight could not be curtailed by the university’s security team, as they watched helplessly the parade of the union president by students who accused him of fraud in the bus purchase.
“Lots of aberration have been committed by the president and I am not even aware of the bus scandal. Iwas not notified before the bus was bought,” the Speaker of the Students Representative Council, Falaye Tope, said, while reacting to the crisis.
“I am not responsible for the crisis. It is beyond me, as you can see, I have not intervened in it all.”
The president and the speaker had been at loggerheads before the incident.
Attempts to speak with the president was not successful as the students union security council members whisked him away in the middle of the uproar.
The University Public Relations officer,Olarewaju Abiodun’s phone line also failed to connect as at the time of filing this report.
