Olowu ‘Atom’ Segun, the aspirant for the General Secretary position in the forthcoming University of Ibadan Students Union Elections has blustered the Union of Campus Journalists (UCJ), University of Ibadan.
This bluster is coming few days after the publication of his interview as part of a special series on the dynamics of the 2025 Students Union Election under its Elections Watch Room initiative.
According to Atom, UCJ lied in the headline that was used for the interview. While he didn’t provide a rebuttal or counter evidence to prove otherwise, he maintained that the headline was a deliberate attempt by the Union to soil his name.
He argued that the purpose of an Elections Watch Room should be objective reporting and analysis, but the UCJ has misquoted him, further implying that the Union is compromising on its standards.
It’s questionable that an aspirant, having declared a plan, wants to ‘hide’ same plan or push it to the periphery. We believe aspirants should be willing to stand by their plans in the face of public scrutiny and questioning, and open to re-evaluation if clear insufficiency is pointed out.
He also alleged the UCJ of compromising accuracy and responsible reporting for attracting readership whilst claiming that he was taken out of context to achieve a more dramatic story.
For context, the provision of audio versions of interviews conducted for the Students Union aspirants in the coming election, in addition to published stories on our website, is an extra-layer mechanism put in place to help achieve accuracy, ethical reporting and responsible journalism.
In this particular interview, already available on our Spotify channel, Atom spoke about scholarship between 9:03-9:45. While he admitted that he needs funds to achieve this part of his manifesto, he maintained that he has enough experience in seeking sponsorship, referencing SIGMA Club multiple times, where he claimed he had been part of sponsorship efforts in the past that yield results and he’s able to replicate same at the Students Union level.
During the interview, when he was further confronted with questions about how past students leaders have failed to achieve sponsorship stated in their plans, giving him a clear example of the immediate past Assistant General Secretary of the Union that overspent and was sanctioned by the house, he maintained that “I don’t know what was wrong with others, why they were not able to provide their promises. But for me, I have enough experience to get that” assuring the student populace that he can deliver on this said promise.
“Make I touch the key to that secretariat first. I no go talk more than that,” He said in addition to the allegations already made, which can be interpreted as a subtle bluster on UCJUI, if elected.
• This report is part of a special series on the dynamics of the 2025 Students’ Union Election by the Union of Campus Journalists under its Election Watch Room Initiative.
