In this interview with SOLOMON ODENIYI, parallel leader of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Umar Faruk, faults the credibility of the just-conducted association’s election, insisting he’s the valid NANS president
What transpired during the just-concluded convention of the National Association of Nigerian Students, in which you contested to be NANS President?
That convention was fraught with a lot of illegalities. We have a constitution and everything we do in the association is guided by the provisions of that constitution. What does the constitution say about the convention? Was it followed to the letter? No. The constitution says that the Assistant Secretary General in charge of accreditation must accredit delegates within 48 hours of the commencement of the convention. Did they do this? No. Since the Assistant General Secretary did not do the accreditation within the stipulated time, the Senate President of the association should have done the accreditation 24 hours after. If he also fails, the Convention Planning Committee and the executive would be dissolved. But in a situation where you called for election on Thursday and Friday but on Saturday, Sunday and Monday election did not hold; you then started accreditation on the following Friday when people were already tired and some student leaders in the polytechnic and colleges of education had returned to their schools for examinations.
Let me tell you, student leaders from the universities could not access funds because of the ongoing industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities; it was we, the contestants, that managed to mobilise them, paid their transportation fares and they also relied on candidates to pay for hotel accommodations. Some of us could not continue (to foot the bills), so they left. A lot of them pulled out before the accreditation was eventually done. Before then, the Convention Planning Committee was shown a portion of the constitution that asked them to wash their hands off and transfer power to the Zonal Coordinator of the North-West – the zone the chairmanship position was ceded to – to conduct election within 40 days. That is what is provided for in the constitution; I didn’t make this up. But they did not do that; instead they went to gather together ‘Torontos’ (strangers).
Was that why you held a parallel convention in a hotel in Abuja where you emerged as the winner?
I pulled out of the kangaroo election; I did not hold any parallel convention. Remember, I said there were no union presidents where they held the convention. The union presidents that were supposed to be there and those ones that travelled back to their various destinations after the prolonged NANS convention called that they had given their mandate to me and I agreed to be their President.
There are also allegations that you induced voters with money at the convention ground. How do you react to this?
They (Usman Barambu’s group) were the ones that shared N20,000 to the charlatans they brought to vote for them, not me. And that was not the only infraction they committed. Could you believe they had already marked some ballot papers and smuggled them into the boxes? I complained to the security agents on the ground but they told me that it was none of their business. They said their duty was to be at the election ground to protect us. I believe that my not having money to share contributed to my predicament. They shared N20,000 each to some members of the convention committee, also to some presidential candidates. Just imagine, if I had the money and I shared N50,000 as against theirs, who do you think would have emerged? Even though I know the delegates are not genuine.
Now, to your question; I didn’t hold any election and I didn’t take people to a hotel to hold another convention. I am a man of integrity; you can ask students’ leaders.
You claimed that Usman Barambu induced the voters with money. Can you tell us where he got the money you spoke about?
He got the money from the government; I don’t know the office or the department; all I know is that he got the money from the government.
How do you react to the allegation that you have an affiliation with the Peoples Democratic Party and that the party is using you to cause crisis in NANS?
I am not a card-carrying member of any political party in the country. I don’t have any affiliation with any of them too. I am just a students’ leader. Anybody who wants to investigate this claim of mine is free to do so.
You can go and ask about me from other students’ leaders and even students in my school, they will tell you that I am a man of integrity. I am not being used by anybody. I respect myself a lot and I have so much respect for Nigerian students. I also want to believe that this is one of the reasons they wanted to edge me out.
As things stand, are you calling for the cancellation of the election that produced Usman Barambu as NANS President?
To be sincere, there was never an election. There was no transparency in the accreditation done by the Senate President. Those 310 ‘Toronto’ SUG presidents that participated in that kangaroo election are not real. But all that is gone now because I have taken the oath of office. You can confirm from the authentic student leaders across the country, they recognise me as their president, even the immediate past president, Sunday Asefon, is aware of this.
We have pushed all this behind us and we have hit the ground running. We recently organised a press conference where we called on the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities to immediately resolve the ongoing strike or face mass action from students.
We have also demanded that the Federal Government should set up visitation panels to address the issues of all politically-expelled and rusticated students. The interest of students is what we stand for.
Have you lodged any official complaints against what transpired at the election?
Yes, I did, I complained formally to Zamani and the NANS president. I also met the Convention Planning Committee. They are yet to respond; they have sold their mind and conscience for money. What I know is that they are having problem in their camp.
