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Friday 5 August 2016

SWEARING - IN / INAUGURATION OF NEW LAWSA EXECUTIVES!

Last session, it took over three months after their the elections before the Garrick led excos could be sworn in.

This year though, the story was different. Exactly a month after their victory at the polls, the newly elected excos were sworn into office.

The event which took place at the Jural court was quite a small one.

For the first time in a long while, we saw a Lawsa event that was supposed to kicked off by 10am and actually did.

The Master of the ceremony was none other but Eke Martins from the now 500level constituency.

Opening prayer was said by Paul Afabor, from the now 400level and new Clasfon President.


The event had in attendance, the new dean of the faculty, Prof N.Inegbedion albeit briefly for the had to leave for a Senate meeting and was subsequently represented by Dr Mrs Aigbokvaebo, all the new excos, members of parliament, the new staff adviser to the association - Barrister Julius Edobor, amongst others present, Chief Judge of a Magistrate Court, his Worship A.T Mamud amongst others.


The ceremony was brief and straight to the point, the oath of office was administered by - his Worship - A.T Mamud.





After which Dr Mrs Aigbokvaebo, proceeded to say a few words of advice to the newly elected excos.


ULP could not help but notice the copious absence of members of the immediate past executives at the ceremony, even though some claim this was as a result of the rush to get done with their project work.


The closing prayer was said by Dammy from the now 200level class.






Later that same day, congress was also inaugurated, this time by the staff adviser, Barrister Julius Edobor.

There was mild drama however, when the inauguration could not take place on time due to the sudden disappearance of the mace. It was later discovered that the mace was confiscated by a member of the last congressional assembly who just graduated on grounds that the previous congress were yet to receive their allowance thus he could not allow the inauguration of a new one.
While it took some time, finally the mace was released and the inauguration ceremony took place.



The venue was LT 2, and the oath of office was administered by the new staff adviser to the association, Barrister Julius Edobor, alongside the new President of the Association - Daniel Odigwe and the immediate past Speaker - Rt hon Nna Victor.


Congress was at it's peak, as we saw a full house, with all forty representatives present.

Immediately after the swearing-in, the election for principal members of the house took place and it was conducted by the Secretary to the Electoral commission - Ene Precious from the now 500level class.

After the election, which were really nominations, for the whips of the various classes were done, hon Joshua Daudu became the new whip for the now 200level class.

Hon Kenneth Nwimo returned as the whip for the now 300level class.

While hon Patrick Omodia became the whip for the now 400level class.

Hon Andrew Ogiribo (now 200level) was nominated unopposed as the deputy clerk of the house.

Hon Tony Geku (now 300level), was nominated unopposed as the clerk of the house.

For the Position of Chief Whip - Courage Osabuohien contested with Daniel Eiwanlan, (both now 500level) Daniel won the election for that position.

For the position of Deputy Speaker, Jandy Abolaga contested with Amata Uzezi, (both now 400level) , Jandy won the election.

For the position of the speaker of the house, hon Peter Abada contested with hon Franklin Ikechukwu, (both now 500level) Franklin won the election.

The staff adviser congratulated these ones and administered the oath of office for them, after which congress held it's inaugural sitting.




Report by gafar.

Thursday 4 August 2016

AUDIT OF LAWSA ELECTORAL COMMISSION 2016/2017.


Last year the faculty was embroiled in an uproar, when Lawsans and parliament in particular discovered how much the electoral commission headed by Maduka Chibueze (Now a graduate), expended on the electoral process and how much of that money members of the commission took home as pay day.

#ElecoBringBackOurMoney was the trend of the faculty at the time and when Ehiwe Osamudiamen (Now a graduate), who was the secretary appeared before parliament to give an account, he maintained and logically too that, there were no laws guiding the commission, and all the commission did was follow conventional practice, including the fact that they had approval from the then staff adviser - Barrister Atchi, congressmen were livid and hon Peter Abada famously exclaimed - "Lawsa has been raped! She is bleeding and screaming profusely from pains!"

This was the genesis, so that when the opportunity presented itself by virtue of the recent constitutional amendment, parliament without hesitation dived in and proceeded to curtailed the powers of the body named "Lawsa Electoral Commission".


Present Day - Electoral commission for the 2016 / 2017 session was setup by the then Staff Adviser - Nelson Ojukwu-Ogba.

The commission had  comprised as members -

Justice Otabor (500level) - Chairman
Ene Precious (400level) - Secretary
Lawrence Ezeali (300level)
Emmanuel (200level)
Faith (100level) .


ULP ran a quick estimate of monies realized as revenue by the commission with a view to keeping Lawsans informed and in a bid to make sure Lawsa has not been "raped" again.


REVENUE ACCRUED FROM SALES OF FORMS!

(EXECUTIVE)



Presidency - 5000 x 3aspirants -N15000.

Vice Presidency - 4500 x2aspirants - N9000.

Secretary General - 4500 x2aspirants - N9000.

Attorney General - 4000 x1aspirant - N4000.

Financial Secretary - 4000 x2aspirants - N8000.

D.o.sports - 4000 x1aspirant - N4000.

D.O.Socials - 4000 x1aspirant - N4000.

P.R.O - 4000 x2aspirants - N8000.

Assistant Financial Secretary - 4000 x1aspirant - N4000.

TOTAL - N65000




(CONGRESS)

400level - 500 x 10aspirants - N5000.
300level - 500 x 10aspirants - N5000.
200level - 500 x14aspirants - N7000.
100level - 500 x16aspirants - N8000.

TOTAL - N25000.

SUM TOTAL - N90000.

Please note that this sum is merely presumptory and can be rebutted by the commission. 



By virtue of Section 39 (8), of the newly amended LAWSA Constitution, the commission is entitled to twenty percent (20%) of the total revenue realized as renumeraton.

20% of N90000 = N18000.

Renumeraton subtracted from TOTAL REVENUE - N90000 - N18000.

Leaving a balance of - N72000.



The big question is - Can Our Electoral commission account for Seventy two thousand (N72000)?

We'll just have to wait till they appear before congress next session to give an account to find out.




LAWSA DECIDES 2016!

The Faculty of Law was agog with activities as Law students geared for the sessional LAWSA elections.

The elections were slated to hold on Thursday, the 30th of June 2016.
Candidates however were not cleared and ban on campaign lifted until 28th, having less than 48 hours to campaign openly.

Positions available to be contested for were positions of the
- President (Augustus Ndiyo, Daniel Odigwe, James Uro)

- Vice President (May Edobor, Omo Osifo)

- Secretary General (Wingate Osita, Joshua Okeme)

- Financial Secretary (Ikechukwu Sunday, Precious Onodiama)

- Public Relations Officer (Chuks Obidigbo, Joy Joseph)

- Director of Sports (Ronny Igo - unopposed)

- Director of Socials (Daniel Asikpata - unopposed)

- Assistant Financial Secretary (Juliet Ezeugbor - unopposed)

- Assistant Secretary General (vacant).

ELECTION EVE & MANIFESTO DAY



After the release of the list of cleared candidates at about 4pm 28th of June, there was a mad rush as candidates and supporters took steps to win the election, as tags, flyers and posters were released bearing the pictures, slogans, quips and mantras of aspirants. Supporters worked late into the night and even the early hours of the morning placing posters and devising means of passing the message of their supported candidates.


MANIFESTO

Largely lecture free, evangelists supporters had themselves covered in posters and tags of their preferred candidates and preached their gospels to Lawsans who cared to listen.

The manifesto was scheduled to be held by 12noon, venue was the Faculty of Law L.T 3. Event was hosted by the Lawsa Electoral Commission and anchored by Eleco Chairman, Justice Otabor, of the 500level (Legal Luminaries) class. Candidates came out one by one, from the unopposed Assistant Financial Secretary, Director of Sports, and Director of Socials to the contested positions of the P.R.O, Financial Secretary, Secretary General, Vice President and President, and dazzled the audience with astute oratory, dished out proposals and promises while wooing them to get their votes. Candidates were not alone, as they had the backing of their supporters, who gave their voices and lifted up placard and posters of their candidates screaming their names and chanting their slogans. Manifesto ended with supporters moving in droves and chanting the names of their candidates.












At dusk, Presidential aspirants visited the hostels and various classes to campaign to Law students present.
Meanwhile the ELECO had issued a warning that campaigning should stop at midnight.




ELECTION DAY

Voting commenced at about 11am, as against the 9am start off time earlier announced by eleco at the 100level class and was scheduled to stop at 3pm. Law students came out en masse to vote for their favourite candidates, while ULP spotted some last minute campaigning by enthusiasts, albeit quietly as the ban on campaign was restored earlier in the day. Voting requirement was any form of identification to identify you as a law student.




























SECURITY DRAMA

The election was relatively peaceful, till suspicious persons, rumoured to be cultists were spotted in the Faculty during the elections, causing whispers among electorate,especially as word spread about the presence of a mysterious 'black guy'. Things took a dramatic turn when fierce looking armed UNIBEN Security personnel stormed the Faculty premises, commanding voters to maintain an orderly queue and barking at bystanders not in the queue to leave immediately. They made their way into the voting centre, ULP sources indicate that security personnel were livid with the Eleco as they did not inform security about suspicious presence in the election. Everything eventually was resolved and calm restored.

FINAL YEAR DRAMA


Just when it seemed smooth sail, there was further drama as it was announced that voting would be over by 2pm instead of 3pm earlier announced by the Eleco. This adjustment had adverse effects on most final year students, who having the 3pm deadline in mind did not arrive till past 2pm.
Sources report that the final year students had Law school forms to submit, and did not complete submission till that time, only to be denied the opportunity to vote. This apparently did not go down well with the final year students as they voiced their displeasure loudly at Eleco reps, security personnel stationed in the Faculty and even the staff adviser, Dr Nelson Ojukwu-Ogba. It took the staff adviser to calm their nerves of the FYBs and convince them to let things slide.
Speaking with ULP reporters, one of the FYBs stated that although they were not happy, they had to concur with the staff adviser's request out of respect, and wished the candidates good luck.

RESULTS ANNOUNCEMENT

After the drama with security and the FYBs, counting of votes commenced, in private in presence of agents.

While none of the results were announced till the whole counting was over, rumours of results and winners had leaked to the law student populace.

At about 5:20pm, the results were announced by no one else but the outgoing Dean, Professor Richard Idubor (who was to handover the next day to the new Dean, Professor N. Inegbedion), flanked by the staff adviser, Eleco reps and agents. He started first with those candidates who emerged unopposed.

Assistant Financial Secretary - Juliet Ezeugbor.

Director of Socials - Daniel Asikpata.

Director of Sports - Ronny Igo. 

Then he went on amidst suspense to announce the scores and winners of the contested positions, amidst cheers from the supporters of winners and congratulatory gestures towards them.

PRO:
Joy Joseph - 337
Chuks Obidigbo - 236

Financial Secretary:
Precious Onodiama: 304
Ikechukwu Sunday Godwin: 272

Secretary General:
Joshua Okeme: 193
Wingate Osita Uzor: 386

Vice President:
Omo Ehi-Osifo - 180
May Edobor - 397

President:
Augustus Ndiyo - 41
James Uro - 252
Daniel Odigwe - 287 
(with a total of 4 void votes)

The Faculty erupted as the Dean announced the newly elected President. Daniel Odigwe was lifted shoulders high and carried round the faculty in jubilation.
It was a floodgates of backslapping and congratulations and felicitations with the newly elected Lawsa excos especially with the President elect.

DEAN'S PARTING GIFT???

The day did not end without one more surprise for those still present. It so happened that as Prof. Richard Idubor, after announcing the results, proceeded to conduct his 'miniature exam' (aka test) for the 300level students.
On his way, the Dean was mobbed by students, cheering "Our Dean! Our Dean!". Prof. Idubor surprisingly pleased with this unusual show of solidarity deeped his hand into his pocket and gave out cash to the students, handing to directly to the President elect.
While it is unclear how much was handed over, with rumours suggesting up to 5000naira, it was however enough for everyone who cared to take any drink or snack they so desired from the faculty outdoor canteen, in celebration of Daniel Odigwe's (and other elected excos') victory, and also a parting gift from the outgoing Dean.








Report by Josh. 

Photo Credit - Tea me Momoh.