Gbenro Adesina
The University of Ibadan (UI) today conducted Congregation elections into the University Senate through a seamless electronic voting (E-voting) system.
At the congregation elections, congregation representatives were elected on the search team (2), University Senate (153) and into various University Boards and Committees.
The elections, which took place on the e-voting platform between 8am and 3pm had accredited voters voting from the conveniences of their homes, both in the country and abroad, using codes already forwarded to them, prior to the commencement of the elections.
At the close of voting, the Senate held a special Senate/congregation meeting via Zoom, where the results were announced by the institution’s Registrar, Olubunmi Faluyi, flanked by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka and other principal officers.
The Congregation Representatives election is crucial to the emergence of the new Vice Chancellor as the body will elect two representatives in council, who will join others to determine the next Vice chancellor.
The analysis of the election by PrimeStarNews reflects that the election favours sciences, where one of the major contestants, Professor Kayode Adebowale, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Admin comes from and College of Medicine.
Faculties of Social Sciences and Arts seem to be affected as most of their candidates did not scale through, thereby reducing their chances at the election of representatives in council.
A major challenge that will be too difficult to crutch for College of Medicine is the high number of aspirants contesting for the exalted position, except they harmonise to produce a candidate, the College may have lost from the very beginning.
As this phase is over, the institution will henceforth witness rigorous politicking with those with high chances of winning consolidating, while those whose chances have been injured intensifying efforts towards their success.
In any case, the Nation’s Premier University has proven to the leadership of Nigeria that e-voting is easy to achieve with determination and the various excuses given by the Federal Government and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the inability to adopt e-voting is mere rhetoric.
One of the contestants said, “Voting was done electronically. It was stress free. No ballot snatching, no vote buying, no harassment, and nobody was disenfranchised. Thanks to our Vice Chancellor, Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka, whose tenure nurtured electronic voting in the University of Ibadan. How I wish Nigeria could copy UI voting model”.
The E-voting system, created by the institution’s Directorate of Information Technology and Media Service, ITeMS, is a major achievement of the administration of Professor Olayinka, the outgoing Vice Chancellor.
