The impeachment saga: Oau kilonshele unveils hidden facts

*The impeachment saga: Oau kilonshele unveils hidden facts.*
Wednesday 18th of January 2017


*What we know*
The ASRC (Accounting students representative council) of the Nigeria University of Accounting Students Association OAU last week impeached their executive President in person of Jon Sunday Akpan based on allegations of 5000 fraud from the visit to Unibadan zoo in August 2016 as one of the treats to welcome freshers fully into the department. As gathered, on getting to the zoo, the visiting party headed by John Akpan was asked to pay 15,000 for entrance which was bargained and reduced to 10,000. Mr John Akpan as supported by the other executives found another pressing use for the 5000 excess instead of remitting it to the Budget and finance committee as the financial statement records 15,000 as the paid entrance fee into the zoo. Sold out, Mr John Akpan was impeached for lack of transparency and not fraud.

The Executive arm of the department, some students (as interviewed by Oau Kilonshele) and various individuals have all voiced against the impeachment of John Akpan as a kind of power tussle between the Legislative and Executive arms of the said department.

*Our Objective as a News agency*
The sensitivity of this case came to the attention of Oau kilonshele which ignited the investigation carried out.
Our Investigative team has done a great job in looking at the hooks and cranny of this case which has been on mainstream media in OAU for the past one week and some days now.

Our aim is to get all facts both covert and overt, analyze and give a balanced and unbiased report to the public as to whether:
1... The impeached president committed the alleged fraud
2... The process of impeachment went through the Constitutional provisions of the department
3... There is any evidence of power tussle as the backbone behind the whole fracas and not the urge to show transparency

*The report based on our Investigation*

*Highlights*
1... John Akpan did not commit any kind of fraud as portrayed by the ASRC
2... John Akpan fought for a good cause with the wrong move
3... The ASRC didn't impeach John Akpan, the Speaker did, as the process of impeachment has no Constitutional backing
4.... Allegation of power tussle is conspicuous

*The full Investigative report*
As aforementioned in the highlights, it is true that Mr John Akpan lied to the representative council and committed a significant crime of by recording a false financial statement. However, his impeachment did not follow due process.

According to the constitution of NUASA in ARTICLE 7, Section 3, the requirements for removing an officer are

A.... Any Executive officer of the association shall be removed from office if a motion for removal is supported by 2/3 majority of ASRC member present and voting provided a quorum is formed.

B... If a notice in writing signed by not less than 200 members of the association is given to the speaker of the ASRC that the conduct of an officer be investigated so as to ascertain whether he is guilty of misconduct in the performance of the function of his office, this shall be debated in the house with 2/3 majority vote for resolution

C... An officer may also be removed on the basis of the finding of the investigating committee.

D... An officer stands suspended during the investigation process of his office

It is known to the deaf that the ASRC is claiming to have impeached Mr John Akpan based on sub-section C as highlighted above that *"an officer may also be removed on the basis of the finding of the investigating committee"*. The only provision surrounding the formation of an investigating committee is pellucid enough for the blind in sub-section B which says for an officer to be investigated, that is, to form an investigating committee, a notice in writing signed by not less than 200 members of the association is given to the speaker of the ASRC that the conduct of an officer be investigated so as to ascertain whether he is guilty of misconduct in the performance of the function of his office. As gathered by Oau Kilonshele, nothing of such happened. Which even if it did, it would still be debated in the house with 2/3 majority vote for resolution. Even if the ASRC found a way to accomplish all these, formed an investigating committee, it is needed that during the course of investigation, the officer (Mr John Akpan) should be suspended till the end of investigation. Oau kilonshele gathered that nothing of such happened until the impeachment of Mr John Akpan.

It is to be noted that apart from sub-section B, section 3 of article 7 of the NUASA constitution, which dictates when an investigating committee can be formed to investigate an officer, there is no other provision in the constitution that dictates when and how an investigating committee should be formed.

Allegation of power tussle between the Legislative and Executive arms

As gathered by Oau Kilonshele, evidence of power tussle is a key component in the impeachment saga as the Legislative and Executive arms of the department of accounting have been growing what could be called "bad blood" since the emergence of John Akpan as President as against the candidate of ASRC Speaker at the last election. The Executive team complain of the ASRC's incessant cutting of expenses without any thorough investigation and this has been limiting their resources as confirmed by an officer in the department who said *" The leadership of the ASRC has never been supportive since the inception of our administration and all efforts to unify both arms by the executives have proved abortive overtime". The officer continued by saying " The amount which was paid by the executive for the Zoo Entrance for Freshers was N10,000 but the financial statement showed N15,000. The excess of N5,000 was agreed by all executives that it should be use for the white marker board in ICAN lecture theatre as it was the pressing need of all Nuasites".*

*The above report is not to vindicate Mr John Akpan for lying and for not being transparent enough to the paper but to justify the fact that the impeachment process that led to his office's termination is dubious and faulty without any constitutional backing.*


*Investigation by Akinwumi Mabel and Lekan Afolabi*
Oau Kilonshele News Outfit
oaukilonshele@gmail.com

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