Mr. Scott Ogunseri who came second in the just concluded Students’ Union Government (SUG) election of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), says the poll was “rigged” against him.
Ogunseri, a 400 level Computer Science student from the Faculty of Physical Sciences, was defeated by Mr. Nmoye Israel, a 400 level student of Dentistry in the election which held on Tuesday 14th February, 2023.
CAMPUS GIST reports that Israel emerged the winner of the election after securing a total of 3,184 votes to beat his major opponent, Ogunseri, who got 2,752 votes.
But the credibility of the election which held physically at both campuses (Ugbowo and Ekehuan), is being challenged by Ogunseri, who has now rejected the results announced by the Students’ Electoral Commission.
Ogunseri is alleging that the results were “manipulated”, with claims that some new students and Direct Entry students were allowed to vote in some faculties.
In a terse statement he issued personally on Wednesday morning, the two-time aspirant, however, failed to disclose if he will be challenging the election or not.
Ogunseri said, “Scott Ogunseri rejects the election result from the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry on ground that 100 level, Direct entry and students who are no longer captured in the system were allowed to vote.”
The UNIBEN Electoral Guidelines forbids Direct Entry and new students from voting or being voted for in students’ union elections. Although, this online media could not immediately ascertain the veracity of the claims by the aspirant.
However, the Students’ Electoral Act allows aggrieved aspirants or contestants to seek redress via petitions. It is expected that aggrieved Ogunseri would be exploring this option, going by his current position.
The 2022/2023 UNIBEN SUG elections had Prof. Benson Osadolor, a former Dean of Students of the University and former Acting Vice Chancellor of the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, as Returning Officer.
More details later…
