Crisis has once again hit the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), as two factions are currently laying claim to its presidency after two parallel conventions. The first is Mr. Lawal Damilare, a student of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, who was elected on Sunday at the Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech), Lagos.

The other faction is led by Mr. Fani Osabinu, also a student of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), who was elected at the old parade ground, Abuja on 4 June, 2006. Briefing newsmen at the office of the Civil Liberty Organisation (CLO) in Ikeja, yesterday, the faction led by Mr. Damilare accused the other faction of being sponsored by Aso Rock. Speaking further, he alleged that Mr. Andy Uba, President Olusegun Obasanjo's Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs, gave Osabinu’s faction N6 million to organise what he called a "Kangaroo election because they are members of the PDP Youth wing."

It will be recalled that the student body had been entangled in the web of controversy since the former President, Kenneth Hembe, openly endorsed the third term agenda of President Obasanjo and his subsequent impeachment by the association's Senate at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) in March this year.

Culled from PM. News Nigeria