The election of Lagos State Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has been postponed till further notice, Midway into commencement of voting on Thursday at the LTV Blue Roof, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos.
The development was said to be as a result of disagreement on criteria to qualify to vote. The election, which was initially scheduled for Sept. 29, 2020, was postponed to Oct. 20, 2020, due to the planned Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) strike.
Lagos NUJ chairmanship is contested by the incumbent Chairman, Dr Qasim Akinreti and a Deputy Editor-in-Chief with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Adeleye Ajayi.
Adeniji said: “We decided to put the election on hold based on security reports and we contacted the national body, I mean the National President of NUJ, Mr Chris Isiguzo.
“We briefed him (Mr Chris Isiguzo) on the situation in Lagos and immediately we presented our case based on the security report we gathered, he said we should put the election on hold indefinitely.
“We are expecting the national body to give us another direction. The suspension cuts across all the issues that have to do with security matters,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, the last delegates’ conference which held earlier on Thursday, was dissolved after a motion was moved by Mrs Grace Alegba of NAN and supported by Mr Solomon Nwoke of the NUJ Vanguard Chapel.
This was, however, not without a rowdy session, as a member moved a motion for members who had not been verified and accredited to participate in the election.
This was countered by the majority. The member discredited the verification exercise conducted by the national body of NUJ in the build-up to the election.
The development, which angered some members, charged the atmosphere and turned the gathering to a noisy session, as members insisted that only verified and accredited members be allowed to vote.
The national officers assigned to monitor the process, however, prevailed and asked the Assistant National Secretary, Opeyemi Korede, to dissolve the house for election to hold.
Members thereafter proceeded to the Blue Roof of LTV 8, Agidingbi, the venue of the election, which had been occupied by security agents for the election, to cast their votes.
The election, however, still commenced under heavy security watch by the police, the Department of State Security Service and OP MESA operatives of the military.
Two chapels of the Lagos state NUJ, the Vanguard and Sun newspapers, were already casting their votes when suddenly the exercise was disrupted.
The Managing Director of the Sun Newspaper, Mr Onuoha Ukeh, was about casting his vote with other top editors of the Sun newspaper when the exercise was halted.
Meanwhile, Eagle Online published on Wednesday that foremost Nigerian activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Femi Falana, has warned the Nigeria Union of Journalist to desist from foisting illegal processes on the union to conduct elections into the elective seats at the Lagos State Council of the body.
The renowned lawyer vowed to sue the NUJ according to a petition dated November 3, 2020 addressed to the National President of the NUJ, Chief Chris Isiguzo, if the council poll, slated for November 5, 2020, is conducted with the exclusion of about 3,000 journalists on the basis of illegal verification carried out by the national officers of the of the body and the electoral committee.
Falana condemned the attempt to disenfranchise valid and bonafide members of the union in several chapels from exercising their franchise during the poll.
According to the letter, titled: “Request to halt the planned exclusion of 3000 members of Lagos Council of the NUJ from participating in the forthcoming election of NUJ,” he stated: “Our clients have confirmed that the electoral committee plans to exclude not less than 3000 members of the Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists from drawn from The Guardian, Business Plus Magazine, The Nation Newspapers, Local Government Chapel, FRCN, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the New Telegraph Newspapers from participating in the forthcoming election of the Lagos NUJ scheduled to hold on November 5, 2020.
“The purported exclusion is said to have been based on the illegal verification conducted by the electoral committee of the NUJ in the utter breach of Article 6.7 (1) of the NUJ Constitution which stipulates that all benefide members in good financial standing are eminently qualified to exercise their franchise.
“Since the Election Committee lacks the power to conduct any physical verification for members who have satisfied the requirement outlined in Article 3 (2) of the NUJ constitution for voting, you will agree with us that there is no legal justification for the planned exclusion of the 3000 members of the Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists from participating in the forthcoming election.
“In view of the foregoing we are compelled to request you use your good offices to prevail on the Election Committee from violating our clients right to participate in the election of the national officers of the Nigerian Union of Journalists.
“Take notice that if you fail to accede to the request of our clients, the outcome of the illegal election will be challenged on the basis of exclusion of the 3000 qualified voters who are members of the Lagos State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists” he threatens.
