By Ismail Auwal
Crisis deepens in the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) as rival factions have laid claim to the leadership of the student association.
Two different students leaders were produced by two parallel elections on Saturday, SAHELIAN TIMES gathered.
One of the elections produced Umar Lawal of the Department of Library and Information Science of the Bayero University, Kano as president and the other produced Usman Umar of the Federal University, Dutse.
A source, who attended the students conference, told this paper that the split is a handwork of “the government interest.”
He claimed that the government’s preferred candidate is Usman Barambu, and the students’ preferred candidate, is Lawal of BUK
He further alleged that government was the source of the millions of naira that was used to “buy off” three out of five candidates and ask them to step down for their preferred candidate, Barambu.
He said, “While the government preferred candidate, Usman Umar Barambu was declared winner and returned as NANS president at the convention, Umar Farouk Lawal, who refused to collect money to step down was also declared the winner and returned as NANS president by delegates, and Nigerian students by extension.”
Another student union leader, Comrade Ogunsamson, claimed that Usman Barambu spent N150,000 on each SUG President just to win the NANS election.
NANS is the national body of Nigerian students studying in Nigerian tertiary institutions and the diaspora.
