Prime’s Impeachment: How Prime Reached His Prime…

By Oluwapelumi King

When telling a story such as this, it is often said that one must start from the very beginning – the time before, during, and after. This article will follow a sequence where the story will be told from the very beginning. Before this, there will be an analysis of facts. What are the facts?

Facts
• That Alawiye Israel popularly known as Prime was impeached on the 25th of March for “negligence of duty and unaccountability”.
• That he received 12 yeses in favour of his impeachment and 3 nos, getting two-thirds of the honourbles present.
• That Prime was initially suspended by the Executive for an unspecified number of weeks and then by the Faculty Legislative Council for a period of 2 weeks.
• That he was found guilty and complicit by the House investigative committee which decided to give him a second chance on the condition that he signs an undertaking that if he is found guilty of any offence “whatsoever in the course of holding office, I shall be impeached by the Legislative arm without mercy or favour or prior warning”.
• Prime signed the undertaking on Thursday, 16th of December, 2022 witnessed by the Deputy Speaker, Vice President, a member of CPS and the Deputy Editor in Chief of AFAS Press.
• That Super 4 and the Inter-Level competition were postponed twice; first in the first semester when he was suspended by the FLC pending further investigations and now in the second semester when it was supposed to hold this week- Monday and Tuesday. The postponement was due to the same issue- Budget presentation and approval delays.

Pay attention to these facts as they are very important and crucial to this story…

The story from the very beginning…

Shortly before November 2021, the election month, Alawiye Israel officially announced his intention to run for the Director of Sports. Prime’s major promise was centred on the inclusiveness of other sports, or other sporting competitions, other than football into the faculty sporting system. He advocated himself to be the best candidate to change the face of sports in the faculty and of course, do better than the last. Afasites or some Afasites who were present at the last session could testify how he campaigned like the others on the SUB albeit face-to-face campaigns seeking to convince them of his candidacy. The competition for the post was the fiercest in years where there were three strong candidates from three strong departments in the faculty; there was Akano Opeyemi (Julius) from Linguistics, Olalowo Morakinyo (HayKay) from Classics and Alawiye Israel (Prime) from Philosophy, The competition was competitive no doubt.

His Emergence

The night of November 18, 2021, is possibly the longest night of AFAS in terms of elections as candidates and their supporters await the pronouncement of final results. Recall, that in previous weeks, 11th of November 2021, the computer-based elections were cancelled due to their many irregularities which include a sizeable amount of voters not being able to vote. It should also be recalled that the elections were cancelled by Afasites after a congress was called, an action which infuriated the Sub Dean at that time. Find the link below: https://afaspress.com.ng/2021/11/11/afas-elections-end-as-afasites-demand-a-return-to-the-traditional-paper-ballot-system/

Afasites then agreed to go back to basics; the ballot paper system. Now to the night of 18th of November 2021, Afasites had earlier cast their votes in the day. It was quite seamless as opposed to the computer-based election a few weeks ago. The only challenge was the counting of votes and the announcement of results. Unlike the computer-based system, the votes for the paper would have to be counted manually causing a delay in the announcement and then thus began the longest night in AFAS.

Anyone who observed Prime in particular and the other candidates could see and sense the nervousness and anxiety. Prime was seen, with some of his supporters, pacing around and eager to know the progress of the collation of results in Room 71. Finally, albeit with some unofficial announcements, the final announcement was made. Alawiye Israel aka Prime was announced the winner for the position of the Director of Sports polling 412 votes as against the 365 votes gotten by Akano Opeyemi (Julius) and 172 votes gotten by Olalowo Morakinyo (HayKay)

His Beginning… as Director of Sports

Prime assumed office and started work the next session (before the long strike) in 2022. His beginning was not filled with so many crises as was his end. In fact, for the first time in a long while, AFAS had other games and sporting competitions for its freshers’ welcome. Afasites were given opportunities to play games (PlayStation), chess, scrabble etc. There was some form of diversification in the sports at the Fresher’s welcome. He could have been to set a tone for a form of progress for sports in the faculty but what came after most notably after the ASUU strike was a regress…

His Crisis
For the sake of this story, his crisis shall be divided into two parts: his suspension and his return.

His Suspension

Shortly after the resumption of the long month’s strike, it was announced by AFAS President, Akinyoola Emmanuel in stakeholders meeting with all arms of the faculty that Alawiye Israel aka Prime has been suspended by the Executive Arm of the body. He gave the reason as Prime refusing to work with the rest of the Executives and his failure to attend 6 consecutive meetings. He also cited the fact that Alawiye Israel had left the Executive WhatsApp group for 6 months. He then stated that they have sent a letter to the FLC.

Shortly after, AFAS Press broke the story and thus it began. On the day he was supposed to present the Super 4 and Inter-Level budget in the first semester, he was prevented from doing so based on the allegations levied against him. He was thereby suspended by the FLC pending further investigation into the allegations and his actions.

His Return
Prime was returned to office after his suspension was lifted by the FLC on the 3rd of December 2022. Before the suspension was lifted, Prime had to sign an undertaking stating that if he is found guilty of any offence he will be impeached without mercy as the investigative committee found him guilty in the allegations levied against him. “Whatsoever in the course of holding office, I shall be impeached by the Legislative arm without mercy or favour or prior warning”, the undertaking reads in part.

His Prime
Impeachment: it is both a constitutional and political arrangement to remove erring public officers from office for gross misconduct or grave violations of the constitution.

25th of March 2023: The day of his impeachment

After the reports of the Audit Committee were presented, it was noticed that the impeached Director of Sports could not properly account for the funds used in the freshers’ welcome. Not only that, the audit committee reported that he could not provide evidence for the items he purchased during the sports day of the freshers’ orientation week which points to his unaccountability. He was also accused by the House of being negligent of his duties, an accusation he inadvertently confirmed in his short apology “I apologise for being negligent…” and in another case stating that the first aid box in his care was missing. After he was found guilty of negligence of duties and unaccountability by the house, two-thirds of the members present (12 yes and 3nos) voted for his impeachment and he was consequently impeached.

Is this the End?
Shortly after his impeachment, Alawiye Israel aka Prime described the decision as unjust and unfair and said he will appeal the decision in the AFAS Congress so this might just not be the end.