The election of the Ondo state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, has ended inconclusively due to the crisis that erupted just before the commencement of accreditation for the election.
Eye brows were raised concerning the list of the union’s members from the local governments’ information chapels, as regards the status of the 68 persons listed as information officers across the 18 local government councils of the state, as well as the local government service commission.
It was gathered that to ascertain the true identity of the information officers, means of identification such as valid ID card, letter of conversion or letter of last promotion were required to be tender. This was objected to, while some could not be authenticated.
After the impasse, which lasted for more than five hours, the electoral process was subsequently “paused”, according to the union’s electoral body, NUJECO.
The Caretaker Committee led by Mr. Sola Obagbemisoye, which was dissolved 24 hours ago, has now been mandated by the national body to continue to steer the affairs of the union until the quagmire is resolved.
Meanwhile, some members have expressed disappointment with the development, which they described as a bad precedent for the union.
It would be recalled that on the 15th of October 2018, the National Industrial Court had sacked the state executives of the Nigeria Union of Journalist, NUJ and ordered that a fresh election be held 30 days from the date of judgement.
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