By ACJ UNIBEN
The parliamentary inauguration of the University of Benin Students’ Union held on Wednesday, 30th July 2025, at the University’s Senate Chambers. The event followed the swearing-in of the newly elected executive members on Monday, 28th July.
Though initially scheduled to begin by 10:00 a.m., the inauguration did not kick off until around 3:00 p.m. Parliamentarians were sworn in after hours of delay, and immediately after, the election of principal officers began.
Those who vied for principal positions included Enwezor Obiora Maclean for Speaker, Israel Oriloye Uduluheli for Deputy Speaker, Aziegbemi Idemudia Henry and Audu Emmanuel for Clerk, Omoigui Tessy for Deputy Clerk, and both Umoru Humphrey and Okorie Chukwuebuka Favour for Chief Whip.
The election was set to start at 3:30 p.m. and last for 30 minutes, but like the executive elections, technical issues disrupted the digital voting process. After about 15 minutes of waiting, the House agreed to abandon the online system and conduct the election manually using paper ballots.
Before the manual voting began, Chukwuebuka Favour stepped down from the Chief Whip race.
Voting was done faculty by faculty in alphabetical order, followed by Mayors and Mayoresses from the university hostels. In the race for Clerk, Audu Emmanuel won with 115 votes, while Aziegbemi Idemudia Henry got 22 votes. There were 8 void votes.
The elected principal officers are expected to be officially sworn in on Friday, 1st August 2025.
Despite the setbacks, the parliamentary transition process has now been concluded, bringing both arms of the Students’ Union Government into full operation for the next academic year.
Editor’s Note:
The earlier report incorrectly stated that the elected principal officers were sworn in immediately after the results were announced. The swearing-in ceremony is officially scheduled for Thursday, 1st August 2025.
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