Posted on: Tue 11-11-2014

First and foremost, I want to congratulate the election committee of NSP for obvious transparency of the procedure adopted for the election. The election was conducted under a conducive atmosphere. However, the election was pre-election rigged by the vetting committee constituted by the Executive Council of NSP for the following reasons.

1. The committee was constituted without the knowledge of the contestants. This violated the constitution of our learned profession.
According to the amended constitution, ARTICLE XXIII (CONDUCT OF GENERAL ELECTION), sub-section 9 which says “Opening of nomination envelopes shall take place at 1500hours (3.00 p.m) Nigerian Time on the closing date. At the time the Secretary-General or Assistant Secretary shall in the presence of at least one other National Officer open all the envelopes received before closing and thence make a compilation of all candidates dulynominated, their sponsors and the offices for which they are nominated and brief resume on each as contained in the nomination form.
 

Nothing shall preclude interested candidates being present or represented at the vetting. The compiled list for all properly completed nomination forms shall be signed by all National vetting officers”.

2. The vetting officers were not known till now. The secretary only communicated through text messages.
3. It is noteworthy, that none of the contestants were represented at the constitution of the Vetting committee except the incumbent officers. This is not acceptable as most members of EC had vested interest in the election. This nullified the credibility of the decisions of this committee. It is only the AGM that can constitute the Vetting Committee, especially, as the President and some EC members were also contestants.
4. Also, the financial officers who compiled the list of eligible votersdeliberately perpetuated and manipulated the voting list in favour of
Delta and Edo states. This was the fear I raised prior to the election on over voting and choice of venue for the conference. Six delegates voted for Delta state while 5 voted for Edo state.
5. As at the period of the election, delegates from Delta and Edo states were not financial members of NSP. Confirmation showed that the 2 states issued postdated cheques for the society and this contradicted article XXIV sub-section 18 which states that: ‘A list of members who satisfy all their financial obligations to the Society for the year shall be compiled by the National Treasurer and submitted to the National President for the purpose of the election. Only financial members whose names appear on the list are eligible to vote (with proviso to voting delegates) and / or stand for election’.
6. A cheque is as valid as physical cash but when it is not cashed immediately or post-dated, it is not valid for the purpose of election.
7. Even if the cheques were dated 7th November for the purpose of the election, a leveled playing ground should have been given for all
state delegates. Aside this, if the cheques were dated 7th November, there was no assurance that the cheque would not bounce for the
purpose of the election. Osun state has a voting capacity of 10 delegates and there are 9 accredited delegates at the AGM; and a
delegate also arrived prior to the election to make up 10 delegates. Only 6 delegates voted because 26 were financial members at the
time of the election. If there was a leveled playing ground, Osun state would have issued a cheque to make up for over 80 physiotherapists in the state to fill up her full voting capacity. We believed several other states were also disenfranchised at the Asaba election

Dear distinguished colleagues, Asaba has come and gone, in theinterest of the profession, ARA team has decided to concede defeatat the election despite irregularities at the preparatory stage of the election. For ARA to have garnered 37 votes against 45 votes of the incumbent president, it clearly showed the popularity and spread of loyalists in the claimed ‘ARAISM’ as it reflected in his manifestoes

despite all odds. ARA team and the over 1000 members of Rufus Adedoyin 2014 will remain intact while we strive to promote transparency, honesty and progress in the Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy till eternity. It is important to clarify the position of ARA TEAM, as we stand for
transparency, progress and the determination to strengthen democracy in our learned society. The philosophy that ARA stands for will continue till we achieve our goals for NSP. It may take long for a change to come as the road to justice is always long. The current NSP President has continued to label our call for transparency, openness and accountability as ‘gutter politics’ even in his appreciation letter. We remain unperturbed because we believe in constructive criticism. The credibility of the ARA team is not in doubt, our position is far from being sentimental and we are above being involved in trivial and unnecessary discussions. All our responses are Evidence Based and truly experimental. Having clarified our positions, and considering the interest of all our distinguished colleagues both at home and in diaspora, we
congratulate Mr Oyewumi Taiwo Joseph and his new cabinet members; and we wish them a successful tenure in office. To promote transparency in future elections, ARA team will want to make the following suggestions for amendment in the constitution:
1. The National vetting committee members should be appointed bythe AGM.
2. The vetting committee should be headed by the National General Secretary. We would not know how this was removed from the
previous constitution.
3. The term of tenure should remain 2 terms. A single term will promote none performance and there will be difficulty in moving for an impeachment procedure, especially where members are timid.
4. The financial position vis-à-vis voting delegate[s] of each state should be known at least 4 weeks to election. This will give room to
settle all discrepancies that may arise.
5. The AGM will have to reconsider the voting delegate pattern. I was formerly an advocator for this pattern from my WCPT experience but
recent developments in our elections have clearly shown that many members are being disenfranchised with the system and there has
been no true representation of the desire and wishes of members. The delegate system is also discouraging members from attending
conferences especially during election years. This piece is to open our eyes on the need to foster unity and progress for our great profession, and the need to be more transparent, God fearing, and also strengthen our internal democracy in order to hasten our motor, intellectual and cerebral developmental milestone.
Thank you
Signed
Dr Onigbinde Ayodele Teslim

Dr Adedoyin Rufus Adesoji (Assoc.
Prof)

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