DevReporting has exclusively obtained details of how a total of 419 delegates at the 23rd National Delegates Congress of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) voted to fill the union’s seven portfolios of its national leadership.
The newspaper earlier reported the emergence of the immediate past Vice President, Chris Piwuna, A Professor of Medicine at the University of Jos, and Consultant Psychiatrist at the University of Jos Teaching Hospital, in Plateau State, as the new President.
Mr Piwuna took over from Emmanuel Osodeke, A Professor of Soil Science at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, who was elected the President in May 2021.
Mr Osodeke took the baton of the leadership of arguably Nigeria’s most organised labour union from Abiodun Ogunyemi, a professor from Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.
According to a senior official of the union, who spoke to DevReporting on condition of anonymity, it was not automatic for Mr Piwuna to take over from Mr Osodeke, having served as his deputy in the last four years.
“Nothing is automatic in ASUU. People had the right to express their interest, and the election was held in an atmosphere that was very conducive and mature. That is the stuff ASUU is made of,” the source boasted.
Who won what?
The new President, Mr Piwuna, polled a total of 219 votes to defeat his opponent, Adamu Babayo, a professor and former Chairman of ASUU at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi State, Northeast Nigeria, who polled 118 votes. 82 votes were reportedly voided by the electoral committee.
For the position of the Vice President, the 174 votes polled by the outgoing National Treasurer of ASUU, Olusiji Sowande, a Professor at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State, was not enough as he was defeated by a senior lecturer at the Department of Communication Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Austen Sado, who polled 232 votes. 13 votes were voided.
Mr Sado, a PhD holder, is a former Chairman of UNIPORT’s branch of ASUU and the immediate past National Investment Secretary.
Similarly, the incumbent Chairman of ASUU at the Kaduna State University, Adamu Peter, took over from Mr Sowande as ASUU’s new National Treasurer, having polled a total of 296 votes to defeat his opponent, Denis Aribodo, who polled 106 votes. 17 votes were voided.
Mr Aribodo is a Professor of Public Health Parasitology from the Parasitology and Entomology Department at the Faculty of Bio-Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State. He was the Coordinator of the Owerri Zone of ASUU.
For the position of Internal Auditor of the union, Kasim Umar, a Professor of Public Administration and Public Policy Analysis at the University of Abuja and a former Chairman of the university’s branch of ASUU, polled a total of 250 votes to defeat his opponent, identified simply as Chitta, who polled 157 votes. Seven votes were voided by the electoral committee.
Meanwhile, a female senior lecturer at the Department of English, Faculty of Arts, University of Uyo, Happiness Uduk, has been elected as the union’s Financial Secretary. Ms Uduk, who is a former Chairman of ASUU, UNIUYO chapter, and Coordinator of Calabar Zone of ASUU, polled 308 votes to defeat Monday Igbafen, a Professor at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, who polled 97 votes. 14 votes were voided.
Mr Igbafen is a Professor of Philosophy and Coordinator of the Benin Zone of ASUU.
Aisha Bawa, a senior lecturer of History at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) was the only unopposed candidate who was reelected as the union’s Welfare Officer, having earlier spent a term of two years in the same position. She polled a total of 411 votes, with eight votes declared as void by the electoral committee.
Meanwhile, for the position of the union’s Investment Secretary, three candidates slugged it out. They are Celestine Aguoru, a professor and former Chairman of ASUU at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi (FUAM), Benue State; Olu-Olu Olufayo, a Professor of Sociology at the Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, and another candidate, identified simply as Salau.
While Mr Aguoru polled a total of 186 to rank first, Mr Salau polled 150 to rank second, and Mr Olufayo polled 79 to rank third. A total of four votes were voided.
New leaders take oath
In a video obtained by DevReporting, the newly elected officers of the union have been sworn in and have assumed office.
In the video, the officers, led by Mr Piwuna, sang solidarity songs, invoking the a luta spirit, and pledged to tackle the challenges facing the union and the country’s university system by extension.
The new leaders are coming on board at a time when the country is struggling to reclaim its lost glory in the education sector, amidst the biting consequences of the poor economy.
It is also at a time when the challenges of brain drain, dearth of facilities, and delayed payment of staff salaries, university autonomy, among others, are now being experienced across the nation’s tertiary institutions, including universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and monotechnics.
About new President
The new national president of ASUU has been described by his colleagues as a perfect replacement for his predecessor, saying Mr Piwuna is not only “much more progressive but very disciplined, exposed, and a comrade in its true sense.”
Mr Piwuna reportedly bagged his degree in Medicine (MBBS) from the University of Jos in 2000 and his Master’s certificate from University of Malta, Malta, an island country located in Southern Europe. He also has a fellowship of the West African College of Physicians and he is a member of the International Psychogeriatric Association.
A consultant psychiatrist at the University of Jos Teaching Hospital and former Head of the Psychiatrist unit at the University of Jos. Nigeria.