Jelili Gbadamosi
The Students’ Representative Council (SRC) of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic has dissolved the executive council of the Department of Library and Information Science (LIS) over alleged unauthorized collection of departmental fees and library fees.
The dissolution followed a petition submitted by students of the department accusing the LIS President, Comr. Oladoyinbo Solomon Oluwapelumi, of collecting ₦5,000 as a departmental fee and ₦1,000 as a library fee charges reportedly unknown to the Head of Department.
Addressing students, the Speaker of the SRC Rt. Hon Ademolu Toheeb announced that fresh elections to constitute a new departmental executive would be held on March 2. The council stated that the decision also stemmed from the president’s refusal to honour an official summons issued by the legislative arm.
In a press statement, the embattled LIS President defended his decision not to appear before the SRC.
He argued that the student union system in the institution is operating without a fully constituted judiciary arm, and therefore lacks the authority to summon or compel an elected departmental president.
“In this our dear institution, it is important to state clearly that the student union system is presently operating an incomplete structure. In the absence of a constituted and functional judiciary arm, no arm of the student union government has the authority to summon, compel, or issue threats to an elected departmental president,” he said.
He further described the language used in the SRC’s correspondence as intimidating and inappropriate, insisting that oversight should be exercised with due process and mutual respect.
“I was duly elected by the students of the Library and Information Science Department and I remain accountable to them through recognized and lawful processes,” he added, warning that continued summons would be treated as a threat to his life and privacy.
The president also threatened to escalate the matter to the Rector, through the Dean of Student Affairs, and to security agencies including the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force if what he termed harassment persists.
Meanwhile, a student of the department, Adebayo Sulaimon , alleged that the ₦1,000 library fee was paid into a personal account allegedly belonging to the Head of Class (HOC).
He further claimed that the Head of Department had earlier directed the departmental president to refund the money collected from students, but that the directive was not complied with as of the time of filing this report.
Efforts to get an official response from the department’s management were ongoing at press time.
