Unilorin alumni president decries past presidents’ interference, calls for decorum

President of the University of Ilorin (Unilorin) Alumni Association, Dr Stephen Olawale Fasakin, has charged members of the association, especially its past presidents, to refrain from self-help in the matter concerning the group that it is in law court.

Dr Fasakin, in a statement made available to newsmen, said the actions of the past presidents, namely the dissolution and removal of the association’s national executive committee headed by him, was in disregard of the court case going on in the matter.

Fasakin noted that this meant resorting to self-help which, according to him, was against the constitution of the association, saying “the past presidents of the association in desperate show of brazen impunity resorted to self-help by calling for congress presided over by them.”

According to him, seven members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Unilorin Alumni Association, including himself as the National President ,went to the high court of Justice, Kwara State, “for the interpretation of certain provisions of the Alumni Association’s constitution on the power of the capacity of Professor Durosaro to preside over NEC meeting and the suspension of the National Executive Committee at the meeting; the constitutionality or otherwise of the three committees constituted at the meeting and the power of NEC to ratify the recommendations of the committee.”

He said: “Amongst our reliefs in court is an order restraining the respondents from disturbing or interfering with the functions of the elected National Executive Committee of the Alumni Association in ratification of the unconstitutional recommendation of the committee. In a show of disrespect to the court, despite the service of the processes on the 1st respondent, he went ahead to preside over the 19th February, 2022, NEC meeting where they claimed they have decided the matter before the Court by themselves.”

Fasakin, while decrying the action of the respondents in the matter, said “even when we filed an application for a restorative injunction and served them with it, they still went ahead to illegally call for congress.”

He explained that by the constitution of the University of Ilorin Alumni Association, “it is only the National Executive Committee that can organise congress. How the chairman of a so-called body of past presidents masquerading as National Executive Council without the involvement of the National Executive Committee got the power to call congress beats imagination. It’s against our constitution.”

He urged all to exercise restraint, saying he had faith in the courts because “it doesn’t matter what they do now and how they do it, the court is there as an arbiter. I believe the court is established for a purpose which is justice and nothing but justice.”