The Senate's second meeting for the semester, held on Friday 14th August began at 3:07 p.m. with the General Secretary reading his budget. He presented a budget proposal for ₦280,000 to buy a wireless printer for the Secretariat at the faculty. The senators asked him about his plans for the Secretariat. He said there was plans to procure a laptop for the PRO for designs and availability in the Secretariat. Senator Tolu and Senator Minini were instrumental in getting sponsorship. The general secretary stated that the amount has already been raised through sponsorship. He also said he has plans to fix up the Secretariat, but this has been slow because of where it is located and the timing around their classes.
The Health Minister then came out with his budget. Senators complained about the number of soaps being bought and asked for cheaper mops. He also asked for buckets for the toilets. Senator Tade pointed out that the toilet door handles are broken, and she said there are plans to fix this and the broken pumping machine too.
Next, the Vice President came in with her budget for the cooking competition. Senator Sekinat, Senator Tade, Senator Tolu, and Senator Ajibade all made comments on it, and in the end, ₦199,250 was approved for the cooking competition.
A motion was then moved to agenda item 6.6, concerning the investigation into the Financial Secretary, following the identification of an unreconciled ₦94,500. The Audit Committee began looking into it on 2nd August, and both the President and the Financial Secretary were called in to answer questions. The Audit committee gave explanations regarding the ₦1,103,800 withdrawn and the ₦94,500 in question, although the committee noted that some receipts did not add up. A smaller deficit of ₦5,000 was found, caused by incomplete receipts for the lab coat and boiler suit expenses. The committee representative said this happened because receipts were not recorded properly, and they suggested the association start using an online banking app to avoid this in future.
Senator Tade said the President did not speak up while the Financial Secretary was being questioned, and suggested using a checkbook like past leaders did. Senator Tade also said Veterinary News Organization was not present at the meeting but went ahead to publish the news. He also said that the charges against the Financial Secretary should be dropped. Senator Yinka argued that the Financial secretary had not been found guilty at the time of her suspension and therefore should not have been given community service. He also said that the Senate had sent an appeal to the press bodies, asking them to hold back from publishing anything concerning the matter. However, he expressed disappointment when the news was published. He further claimed that the Veterinary News Organization (VNO) sent a response stating that the Senate was impeding its powers. However, the letter sent by VNO did not contain any statement of that sort.
Senator Bolaji said both the President and the Senate made mistakes in how the case was handled. He said the President should have said something, as it would ultimately be the Faruk-led administration. He said he had nothing against the VNO article, only that VNO was not present. He also said some wanted her to refund the ₦94,500, but he opposed this because she had not been found guilty. He said her community service was only because she had promised to write a letter and failed to do so, not because of misappropriation of funds. He added that the Senate made a big mistake by not questioning the President too, and said no one meant harm.
Senator Minini said the punishment was meant to help her feel the weight of the suspension, and noted the President knew about the money going into her account. She also apologized to the financial secretary for the Senate's hasty decision. Senator Uthman said she had enough time to bring her receipts, and her suspension was necessary for investigation of the case according to the constitution. He said the community service was because she said she couldn't leave the comfort of her home to withdraw money from the bank and pay the individual vendors separately. The Financial Secretary, however, disputed this, saying she had told the Senate that she could not carry out the transactions from the comfort of her home, not that she could not leave her home. Senator Uthman asked everyone to maintain good relations, referring to the VNO published news.
The Senate President, Senator Basit, said the Senate does not make a mistake. He asked for a counter-motion and no one said anything. He went on to ask for a second vote, in which the "ayes" had it. He said the voice vote was intended to prevent emotions that could arise after the decision. He said the counter-motion alone was enough to pass the verdict.
The President was then asked why he didn't speak up during questioning. He said there was a lot of history between him and the Financial Secretary. He said he told her to pay the vendors in full, but she refused, saying there was only one vendor and paying everything upfront to new vendors was too risky, since it would fall on her if things went wrong.
After this, the Financial Secretary was reinstated, with Senator Uthman and Senator Tolu seconding the motion.
Senator Toyibat said she noticed the President has a way of speaking with his executives. Senator Tolu replied that emotions should be kept out of it and her words shouldn't have been used. The Senate President added the President was simply acting as president, though agreed leaders shouldn't always act that way since everyone is a student in the association.
The Financial Secretary then spoke, apologising in advance for exceeding her allotted thirty seconds. She said the audit did not ask her for receipts, countering Senator Uthman's earlier words of having ample time to submit the receipts. She said she even gave a picture of her handwritten records, but was told it didn't count as a proper document. Senator Tade interrupted to say her time was up; she said she had already asked for extra time and was given two more minutes, but kept trying to explain. Senator Uthman then said time was moving and they needed to continue with the agenda, adding that the matter was already settled and shouldn't be reopened.
The Senate then moved to the next agenda item: the inauguration of the IVMSEC committee. A report was given on the public lecture, noting more was spent than received, and Senator Uthman urged the chairperson in charge to reach out to Dr. Bala for more funding.
Senator Bolaji proposed a bill to set clear rules for calling Senate meetings, so students can call a congress meeting if they feel the executive or senators aren't acting in their best interests. Senator Aluta also brought forward a new bill, which will be reviewed further at the next Senate meeting.
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