Report of the NPHR Sitting Held on Wednesday, November 17, 2021

The sitting began at 12 PM, with an opening prayer by Hon. Stephen Ibitara. The acting Editor-in-Chief of Psych Lens came up to give her report on the Press Night and the Speaker berated the members for not attending the press night as only four members of the house including the speaker attended that press night.

Ms. Eniola Fase began to defend the Press Night budget and she spoke to the House about the anonymous sponsorship that was given to the press. The President of the association, Mr. Idoko Adoyi berated the acting Editor-in-Chief over the state of the report document, stating that it was not official enough. He also asked to know who the anonymous sponsor is, to which Ms. Eniola Fase declared that it was an Honorable of the house. He also requested that the balance of the anonymous sponsorship be returned to the association’s account.

The acting Editor-in-Chief questioned the statement of the president, and the speaker went ahead to inform the acting Editor-in-Chief that the money left from the anonymous donation would be kept in the association’s purse according to the constitution. Later, the honorable, executives and congressmen in the house questioned Ms. Fase about her report.

The motion is then moved to allow the INEC chairman to give his report of what happened during the manifesto night and the election day. The INEC chairman was asked to clarify what he meant when he said that pressmen were ‘causing confusion’, during the counting of the votes; while the Returning Officer asked the House to ask Mr. Caleb, his side of the story.

Mr. Caleb, after being prompted by the speaker, told the House his account.

The speaker of the House reiterated that members of the House are not used to having a press body and that members of Psych Lens are not to be attacked and should, at the very most, be corrected.

When asked, the President confirms that there is a database that has a record of all Napsites. He expressed his disappointment with INEC stating that the election is a ‘sacred process’ and he did not approve of the irregularities present. He also observed that the returning officer had insulted everyone present with his care-free and nonchalant attitude was taken note of the fact that the returning officer wanted to take leave from the sitting to pick a phone call when he was told that he could not leave the sitting, he asked, ‘What if they want to give me money?”

Mr. Collins, the PRO-elect was disqualified as he could not produce his basic dues receipt and then later requalified.

The Speaker asked the Returning officer why the House wasn’t informed of that decision. Also, the Sport Secretary-elect and the Treasurer-elected both submitted their forms after the elections had been held. It also showed that Mr., Collins did not show up for his manifesto night.

Meanwhile, Mr. Samuel suggested that the House should not accept INEC’s report. The Vice President suggested that we deal with the problems one after the other starting with the disparities in the number of votes.

In the report, the INEC Chairman gave to the House contained some comments about Psych Lens that the acting Editor-in-Chief and the President of the association didn’t find amusing. The president claimed he spoke to the Financial Secretary and he was told that INEC had not withdrawn the money that was allocated to them and he wondered where they had gotten the money to conduct the election.

The President also believes that INEC was not aware of its constitutional rights and duties as the aspirant who was not present for his manifesto, should have been disqualified according to the constitutional duties.

INEC had not deposited the money they obtained from the sales of forms however and the President insisted that he has not received an alert notifying him that the money had been put into the association account. The returning officer claimed the money was with the general secretary of the electoral committee saying ‘if it’s your 31,000 you want; I will call the general secretary.’ The Returning Officer demanded an apology from the president for insinuating that he had ‘traded’ the money. The apology was not tendered.

The INEC Chairman also informed the house that he had funded the election from his own pockets. The Speaker was not pleased about this and insisted that the Returning Officer should have presented a budget to the House to follow procedures correctly.

The INEC Chairman was asked why the PRO-elect was allowed to run for office despite it being stated clearly in the constitution that whoever does not attend manifesto night will not be qualified to run for office. The INEC Chairman informed the House that he was not aware of that. The speaker wanted to know why the aspirants were allowed to run for office even when they hadn’t submitted their forms.

Hon. Ibitara believed that when the Returning Officer tendered his resignation in the last sitting, the House should have accepted it and that the election should be annulled.

While Honorable, Congressmen and Pressmen alike gave their recommendations to the House about whether or not to annul the election, the acting Editor-in-Chief Eniola Fase suggested that a Google form be created to get the opinion of Napsites.

The acting clerk of the House believed that the election should not be annulled but instead, the three positions should have a bye-election to fill in those posts.

The speaker makes her final decision. Mr. Collins will be disqualified as provided by the constitution, the elected office of the treasurer and the sports secretary will be disqualified as it is impossible to complete a screening without the submission of the form therefore those candidates were not screened by INEC.

She also decided that the person who voted before paying his dues, Mr. Peter must pay his dues by Friday, November 19, 2021.

The Speaker then declared the three posts vacant and asks that the motions be moved. Hon. Semilore moves the motion and Hon. Akintomiwa seconded it. Hon. Semilore also added that the committee should also attach a statement to the report explaining what happened to the general public. The Speaker also asks that the INEC chairman also write a formal apology to Psych Lens.

The Speaker also asked that the sum of N5200 be reimbursed to the Returning Officer instead of the N9,870 because that was the amount approved by the house.

Hon. Kolesho asks that the financial secretary be summoned to the House to present the data he gave to the electoral committee.

Hon. Adeife moved the motion to move on to the next agenda and the Vice President of NAPS comes up to discuss the dinner plans and the expenses involved.

Moving on to the next agenda, the President suggests a tribunal but the Speaker says according to the constitution, the only way a tribunal can be set up is through a petition. The acting clerk believes there is no way a tribunal can be created at that moment.

The Speaker is worried about the time before elections while the president insists that he has no further agenda but that he wants the best for Napsites, however, the Deputy Speaker believes there is no time to perform another election or to form a tribunal.

A suggestion was brought to the House by Mr. Jegede, a pressman, to involve congress and see what they want. Hon. Ibitara, Hon. Adeife and the President agreed with Mr. Jegede and they believe calling congress is the best thing to do, however, Hon. Akintomiwa does not think it’s best to involve the Congress in electoral matters. Miss. Grace Yusuf, an aspirant for the position of Vice-President in the just concluded elections believes that the congress should be conducted online. The president agrees.

The House takes a vote as to whether or not congress will hold. 4 Honorables voted ‘No’, while 2 voted ‘Yes’ and so the idea was ruled out.

The President requests that a member from each organ report allow him to report on the election so it will not be said that he is pushing a personal agenda.

The motion for the adjournment of the sitting was moved and seconded. The meeting was adjourned till further notice.