Nigerian politicians deploy 300m to rig NANS election, student unionist alleges after 7 days without commencement
He claimed that one of the politically exposed aspirants had boasted of receiving 50 million with a promise of more funding, while other anointed candidates said they were expecting the sum of 300 million naira for vote-buying.
Dray
An aspirant vying for president of the National Association of Nigeria Students, NANS, Joshua Danladi, has alleged that some Nigerian politicians had hijacked the 2022 NANS convention in a desperate bid to impose their stooges on the students union.
In a petition dated August 31 and addressed to the Director General, State Security Service, SSS, Mr Danladi alleged that the bid by politicians was aimed at having a full control of the student movement ahead of the 2023 general elections.
He claimed that one of the politically exposed aspirants had boasted of receiving 50 million with a promise of more funding, while other anointed candidates said they were expecting the sum of 300 million naira for vote-buying.
He said the plot was being orchestrated through the Convention Planning Committee, CPC.
The presidential hopeful said the gimmicks were responsible for the delay in holding the election, which was scheduled for August 25-29, 2022, saying the situation violated Article 15, Subsection 5(f), of the NANS Constitution, which states that:
“Accreditation of the delegates shall be completed within forty eight hours of the published arrival date; where this is not completed by any reason of the acts of the accreditation committee, the committee stands dissolved, and the convention planning committee shall take over the function and discharge it within Twenty-four hours.”
Mr Danladi, a student of the Federal University of Dutsin-Ma in Katsina state, stated that the deliberate delay in conducting the election had left many students homeless and wandering in the streets of Abuja as many of them had been evicted from their hotels.
“We also have it on good authority that the CPC is being hijacked by external political forces who are hellbent on imposing their stooges to lead the students movement as we inch closer to the 2023 general election.
“Those forces have compromised the CPC and have become willing tools to mortgage the students’ mandate.
While calling on the SSS to investigate the matter and sanction those found culpable, Mr Danladi urged the security agency to call the CPC to order and to proceed with the election to avert breakdown of law and order in the FCT.
The outgoing president of the association, Sunday Asefon, and chairman of the convention planning committee, Agbah Kunle, were not available for comment as their known lines were switched off at the time of filing this report.
