By, Habeeb Lanlehin
It’s alright, I know you are speaking out of emotion, and this emotion will not help you, I can tell you that for free… You see, all this thing you are doing, if you are no longer interested in being President, you will be impeached,” stated Sen. Alimi Yusuf, NAPSSUI Senate President.
Welcome to the National Association of Political Science Students, University of Ibadan (NAPSSUI) – my NAPSS, your NAPSS, our NAPSS. For a long time, we have enjoyed peace and administrative coherence. However, with the current clouds of constitutional interpretation and misrepresentation, what is the fate of our NAPSS’s administrative tranquility?
Friday, 2nd of February 2024 was not the day it all started but perhaps the day regressed tensions were let loose during the parliamentary session held in room 022, Faculty of the Social Sciences. So, how did it all start?
ON FINE FOR ALLEGED BREACH OF CONSTITUTION
In October, while presenting a report on the state of the association, NAPSS President Mr. Victor Oloruntobi referred to an event he attended with his cabinet members and five NAPSSites. The event was the “Youth Mega Summit” at Idi Obi. There, he presented an award to the organizer, Baba Sebi Oba, and secured a sponsorship of over thirty thousand Naira for the association. The House deemed the President’s actions a constitutional violation, as he failed to inform the House prior to the event and presented an award without the Senate’s ratification.
In his defense, the President explained to the house that the event was not attended in the name of the association but rather he went with his cabinet members and five NAPSSites who showed interest. On presentation of an award, he told the House the award was an executive initiative, funded by the executive and presented by the executive. However, his arguments did not gain solid grounds in the House as senators concluded the award was presented in the association’s name since the executive organ, which is a sub-unit of the association can not act independently outside the umbrella of the association. To support the resolution, the House referred to Article 27, sections 1-3, a section of the Constitution that highlights the issuance of Prizes and certificates. As punishment, the President was fined the sum of three thousand naira and also asked to write a letter of apology before the next plenary session which was held last week on Friday, 2nd of February.
Twenty-six hours before the last sitting was held, Mr Victor claimed to have sent in an apology letter as requested by the senate and also sent another letter begging for an extension for his fine payment as he was unable to raise the amount. The President’s appeal for extension was met with different reactions by senators and three motions were raised in the House. The first motion was raised by the deputy senate president, Sen. Sunday Noah, who stated the fine should be increased to four thousand naira and failure of the President to pay before or on Monday, February 5, 2024, should be punishable by a month’s suspension. Sen. Adebayo Solomon representing the 300lv constituency pleaded leniency with his motion and urged the house to give the President an extension without an additional fee. Sen. Obi Sylvia representing the 300lv constituency raised a motion for the house to double the fine payment from three thousand naira to six thousand naira and failure to pay on or before Monday should warrant a month’s suspension of the executive President. After the motions were raised, the senate President instructed the chief whip to conduct a closed ballot to vote on the three motions.
While the chief whip was preparing electoral materials, the executive President tried to call the house’s attention to the fact that he submitted a letter begging for an extension before the sitting and that the letter should be read in-house. However, he wasn’t given the floor to address the house and was cut short by the senate President who warned him not to disturb the motion on the ground.
The results of the election were publicly read in-house. The first motion raised by Sen. Noah, garnered three votes, the second motion raised by Sen. Solomon got seven votes and the third motion raised by Sen. Sylvia also had seven votes while a single vote was declared void. With a tie, the Senate president cast a vote in support of the third motion raised by Sen. Obi. The President openly refused to accept the election results, stating he would not comply with the House’s resolution. He justified his stance by claiming that Sen. Fiyin was no longer a legitimate member of the senate. However, the House clarified that Sen. Fiyin’s resignation had not yet been ratified and, until such approval, she remained an esteemed member of the House.
While speaking with a correspondent of the Press, Mr Victor explained that the resolution of the senate to double his fine was caused by the machinations of a caucus of senators with ulterior motives who are working against the interest of NAPSS. He also explained he rejected the resolution of the house for reasons bordering on; the fact that most senators were not aware of the letter asking for an extension those that were aware did not read it and the letter was not also read to the house despite the fact it was sent about 26hours before the sitting, the senate President refusal to give him the floor and the the Senators attention to the letter and the participation of the executive co-opted member who had submitted a resignation letter before the sitting/election.
Reacting to the above claims, the senate President, Sen. Alimi Yusuf explained the fine had been meted out to the President since November 2023 and his failure to pay the fine or write the apology letter early suggests his unwillingness to pay the fine. He continued by stating if the President had written the letter begging for an extension to his fine payment earlier than he did (48 hours) maybe the letter would have been considered by the Senate. All correspondence is supposed to be submitted to the clerk of the house 48 hours before sitting. Sen. Alimi also dismissed the resignation letter of Miss. Fiyin affecting the Polls, explained the resignation letter had not been ratified by the House at the time of the polls and Miss. Fiyin was still a senator.
The Senate President also refuted the executive President’s claim stating the House resolution to double his fine was the the machinations of a caucus of senators with ulterior motives, he referred to the claim as an appeal to pity and nothing more.
Furthermore, Sen. Alimi stated the President is mandated to pay the fine at the stipulated deadline or be suspended for a month. However, Mr Victor when speaking with this correspondent not only stated he won’t be abiding by the house resolution but also his intentions to challenge the original fine itself, according to him, he didn’t breach the constitution and the senate mandating him to pay the fine from the outset was a gross misuse of power. He rounded up his statement by saying the sections highlighted by the house when he was fined were misinterpreted and misrepresented.
ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATURE
Speaking to the press after the plenary session, the President expressed his displeasure with the senate, he accused the senate of being authoritative and the relationship between the two organs is becoming a coerced master-servant relationship. In his words, “I want to say this that we executives are not Puppet to the Senate, we are an organ of the association too, and we are duly elected for our purposes, as much as we will always cooperate with them in performing their duties, we will never be taken for granted like we are worthless and appointed by them.”
While commenting on the relationship between the two organs, the senate President admitted that there are some tensions between the two organs but their relationship has been a good one although they disagree on some issues which is how a democracy works. He also emphatically stated that the Senate is prepared to withstand any tension as much as they are doing the right thing. He rounded up his statement with a comment on the executive president- “he is acting according to his experience in the leadership setting. He can do more than that if he wants to. But he has not studied the Constitution real well.”
As it stands at the moment, the executive organ is trying to trigger a clause in the constitution by forming a judicial council to settle the dispute between the two warring organs, an action the senate president also referred to as a means of conflict resolution between organs. According to the Senate President, Mr. Victor is supposed to write a letter to the House about his intentions to raise the judicial committee and the House will assent letter and form the council.
The big question in the room at the moment borders on whether the president will be suspended pending the formation and resolution of the judicial committee. While commenting on the question the senate President explained, “After today, if he doesn’t fulfill the obligation we would have no option than to call for an emergency sitting where the suspension will be issued. Also, I got a call from the active HOD so we will be seeing her tomorrow morning together with some members of the principal officers.
More information on the disagreement between the executive president and the House on a report of the state of the association will be addressed in the subsequent publications. Also, NAPSSites will be informed on new developments. After all is said and done, it remains our NAPSS.
