NUJ polls: Don’t interfere unjustly, journalists tell national body

As members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists in Niger State prepare to go to the polls on Thursday, practitioners have called on the national body of the union not to interfere unjustly but play a fatherly role.

While urging the members to eschew trade zingers as it prepares for its forthcoming elections in the Niger State Council, stakeholders tasked the NUJ leadership to be ready to inaugurate the next executive members this weekend in Minna, the Niger State capital.

Speaking against the backdrop of speculation that there is connivance between some members of the state council and the National Executive Council of the NUJ to disqualify some members who have already been cleared by the electoral committee, the Executive Director of Newsline Newspapers, Ndama Abubakar, said there should not be any form of sentiments.

Abubakar said this when members of the NUJ Correspondent Chapel and its campaign team paid him a courtesy visit in respect of a member’s aspirations for a position at the state council.

He said the crisis experienced during the election of the Nigeria Labour Congress should not be replicated in Niger State Council of the NUJ.

According to him: “There must be no sitting on the fence.

“Every journalist must declare where he stands.

“You must all be vigilant.

“We need to resuscitate the NUJ in Niger State.

“It is a union of envy.

“For the past years, NUJ’s image has been rubbished.

“We cannot fold our hands and watch it rot.

“The time for a better NUJ is now and we urge the President and his lieutenants to be ready to monitor the elections and perform the inauguration.”

Leaders of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, the National Association of Women Journalists and Chairmen of various chapels in the state while endorsing the candidature of Mohammed Mohammed for the chairmanship, Aisha Wakaso as secretary and their team charged the national body not to allow sentiments play out.

A member of the outgoing Executive of the Union, Muhammad Hadi Pandogari, who is also the Editor-in-Chief of Newsline, while soliciting for free fair and credible elections, called for tranquillity and collaboration, as there had been crisis in previous elections.

The Chairman of the campaign committee, Aideloje Ojo, and other veterans of the profession in Niger State, urged the national body of the Union to shelve any form of interference.

Ojo said: “If there are any challenges faced by the state council, they can only be solved by its members.

“National body, Abuja or other councils cannot solve our problems for us.

“We do not have any problems and we will urge the national body to play its fatherly role and give their blessings when necessary.”