From Olamide Lasisi and Elizabeth Ogunleye
The decision by the OOU Students' Union Government Electoral Committee Officers (SUGECO) to proceed with the 38th SUG election, in direct violation of a Supreme Court ruling, has sparked widespread agitation among students.
This move has raised serious concerns about the committee's adherence to judicial authority and the supremacy of the Judiciary in the students' community.
Several students who pleaded anonymity in their interviews with Campus Mirror have shared their thoughts on this current state of things in the OOU students' community.
"I'm talking about the election palava that happened recently, talking about the Judicial Council and the ECO Committee of OOU. It just displayed a state of anarchy. It's like a stateless society where the rule of law does not prevail. We're talking about a petition still being in court, and then someone, a candidate for a presidential race that has a case in the court, and all of a sudden, the Eco Committee has set a date for the election and then the Judiciary came up saying they barred the Echo Committee from holding the election.
"I don't know what section of their constitution upholds the Judicial Council being the supreme court of everything. Using Nigeria as a case study, Section 287 of the Nigerian constitution, says the Supreme Court has the highest rule and whatever the Supreme Court says is the final.
"So now, the Judicial Council of OOU said the election must not be held and the Eco Committee went ahead to do the election. It's just a display of anarchy, a stateless society where the rule of law does not prevail."
A Law student has said: "If we have a supreme court in OOU, it should be supreme and effective. The ECO should have listened to the directives of the Judiciary. The election has come a long way and winners have been declared. If the Judiciary is still judiciary, they should declare the election void. Why do we have a Judiciary if they are not effective?
"What need do we have of the court if its ruling/judgment will not be followed? What faith will the common man have in the court if what happened in the last election becomes the trend? Does it mean some set of people are above the law?
"Aren’t such acts of disobedience ought to be followed by strict by strict sanctions? But who is to enforce it, and against whom? Because the disobedience is from the general populace."
During an interview with Campus Mirror, a student from the Faculty of Science expressed her views on the political climate at OOU, stating that it doesn't feel like a selection' nor does it feel like 'an election.'
"To me, for the past three sessions, I would not say OOU has been doing anything like an election. They should not even tag it as an election. They should just tell us they are doing some appointments. They just appoint some people and then swear them in. If we're doing an election, we should allow people who have the capacity, capability, and competency to go for these posts and show what they have for the students. To me, it's not an election nor a selection, it's an appointment."
She further disclosed her stand on the just-concluded SUG election, saying: "Only the judiciary can tell us it’s invalid, and they’ve not said anything. They’ve not done an inauguration; they are still just elected. Who knows, maybe the judiciary will still do something about it.
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