…Stakeholders Demand Disbandment Over Alleged Bias, Misconduct
A group of aspirants for various offices in the upcoming 8th Triennial Delegates Conference of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has raised alarms over suspected electoral manipulation by the Credentials Committee, chaired by Mike Ikeogwu.
The aspirants, in a strongly worded statement, passed a vote of no confidence on the committee, accusing it of being tele-guided by the outgoing NUJ president, Chris Isiguzo.
The statement, e-signed by Presidential Aspirant Kris Atsaka, Deputy National Presidential Aspirants Wole Sokunbi and Edward Ogude, and National Auditorship Aspirant Mustafa Abubakar, expressed deep concerns over the integrity of the election process.
According to the aspirants, the Credentials Committee was not constituted in accordance with NUJ’s constitutional requirements, and its actions have cast serious doubt on the fairness of the upcoming elections.
“We are constrained to state categorically that the Credentials Committee, set up outside the mandatory three-month constitutional provisions, is far from being independent of the out-going President of the NUJ, Chris Isiguzo, as it is being tele-guided and dictated to,” the statement read.
One of the primary points of contention raised was the failure of the committee to publish the final list of candidates, despite the electoral timetable indicating that the list should have been released on October 16, 2024.
This delay, the aspirants claim, is part of a broader manipulation to disqualify candidates in favor of the president’s preferred aspirants.
“The actions of the Mike Ikeogwu-led committee are plunging the union into an avoidable crisis, with its seeming manipulation to disqualify aspirants at all costs, to favor preferred aspirants through the back door,” the aspirants alleged.
The group further highlighted the resignation of a member of the Credentials Committee on October 18, 2024, citing manipulation as the reason for his decision to step down.
The member reportedly resigned after being pressured to disqualify aspirants who were constitutionally qualified to contest.
In addition to this, the aspirants accused the committee of disregarding petitions against favored candidates, particularly Abimbola Oyetunde and Alhassan Abdullahi, despite clear constitutional violations.
“It is pathetic to state that all petitions written against the favored candidates of the president were not tabled for discussion and adoption by the Committee,” they said, pointing specifically to a petition against Oyetunde, who is alleged to have violated attendance requirements for the election.
Citing Article 6(7)(F) of the NUJ Constitution, the aspirants emphasized that eligibility for office requires attendance at 50% of council meetings between conferences, a requirement the committee allegedly ignored for favored candidates.
The aspirants also accused the committee of selectively collecting attendance records from certain state councils while ignoring others, further fueling suspicions of electoral manipulation.
As a result of these allegations, the aspirants are calling for the disbandment of the current Credentials Committee and for state council chairmen to take over the election process.
“We insist and call that the Credentials Committee be disbanded, and Chairmen of Councils be allowed to take over the election process and conduct a free, fair, and acceptable election,” the statement demanded.
In conclusion, the aspirants urged past NUJ leaders to intervene in the growing crisis to preserve the integrity of the union’s electoral process.
They warned that failure to address the situation could result in further legal actions. “We call on our past leaders to do the needful by intervening in the charade being orchestrated by the outgoing NUJ president, in the overall interest of the Union and its set objectives, as well as our dear country, before we are forced to also proceed to seek redress.”
