By Eben Enasco
Leadership of the Niger Delta Students Union Government (NIDSUG) has denied the existence of factions, says they are ready to accommodate those who were not satisfied with the outcome of the election procedures that birthed the incumbent executives.
At the 6th Inaugural ceremony where the new Executive Council of NIDSUG was recently sworn-in in Benin City, the Edo State Capital, the President, Scott Uyiosasere Ogunseri disclosed that no factional group exists.
Ogunseri explained that given the report on the outcome of the by-election held on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, at the Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, justice has been served to end any insinuation that factional elements exist in the Union Government.
Recall that the Bye-election arose from a tie in the vote between two candidates, Comrades Ayemobuwaidowu Hero and Ogunseri Uyiosasere Scott during the last NIDSUG general elections held on July 18, 2023, at the Rivers State University where four candidates keenly contested for the office of the Union’s President.
It was learned that, at a congress, it was agreed that a bye-election be conducted where Comrade Ogunseri ran the rules and emerged winner having polled Seven (7) votes, the highest, against his closest opponent Comrade Ayemobuwaidowu Hero who polled two votes (2).
Despite the obvious outcome of the votes that produced the president, when our correspondent sought the take of one of the opponents, he declared that he won the election, questioning the decision to swear in another winner which he claimed provoked his agitations.
However, Ogunseri when responding to various complaints emanating from the aggrieved on the issues surrounding his emergence, urged the pockets of individuals whose various positions were lost during the election and now spewing crisis, to disembark and join him in his quests to address some of the capital issues bedeviling the Niger Delta students in the region.
While commending President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the approval of the five billion subsidy palliatives to each state as a way of cushioning the effects of the removal of petroleum subsidy, he sued for peace in the region
Ogunseri pledged to uphold the tenets of leadership in office to work closely with relevant stakeholders in the region.
On her part, Betsy Obaseki, the Wife of the Edo State Governor, charged Students of the Niger Delta Universities to demonstrate valuable precedent in the enthronement of peace and stability in the region.
Represented by the Senior Special Adviser on Media, Peter Okonkwo, she also enjoined the Student group to unite and front a common course that is capable of strengthening national economic advancement.
Similarly, Dr. Felix Tuodolo, a pioneer member, Engr Godwill Obulu, Goodness Eba, Tana Bosco, Don Ben, and other participants voiced their opinions at the event expressing their displeasures over the 13% derivatives offered to the region by the Nigerian Government
They believe that the students are advocates for the region, therefore, must speak in one voice to approach the authorities to reconsider the issues surrounding the directives which the region is seen as a major upset.
Twenty Member-Executive Council were elected to various seats as pilots in the one-year tenure of the Niger Delta Students Union Government.
