NUJ President tasks committee on Pen/Jewel housing programme

The National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Alhaji Waheed Odusile, has called on the committee investigating the crisis bedevilling the National Association of Women Journalists/NUJ housing programmes to exhibit thoroughness in its work of ensuring that a solution to the crisis is reached.

Odusile spoke while inaugurating the seven-man committee, explaining that the interest of NUJ is to ensure justice for all and that the NUJ will not shield anybody who is found to have erred.

He said the decision of the NUJ not to shield anybody found culpable could be seen in the appointment of the committee members, whom he noted were picked from members of the committee whose integrity are not questionable.

The NUJ at its National Executive Council meeting in Sokoto in June appointed Bonnie Iwuoha and Bola Ogunlayi as Chairman and Secretary of the committee respectively, while Richard Akinola, Lanre Ogundipe, Moji Makanjuola, Toro Oladapo and Alhaji Abdulkadir Ahmed were appointed as members.

The committee will advice the NUJ on measures to take over the alleged fraud of about N1.6 billion of the NAWOJ/NUJ Housing Programme at Mowe (Abaren), commonly called Pen-Jewel Estate.

The NUJ said in a communiqué issued at the end of its Sokoto meeting that the report of the Lagos Council Abaren Land was received and deliberated on.

NEC directed that a committee be set up to advice it on the proper line of action to take.

A committee earlier constituted by the Lagos Council of the NUJ had recommended among other things that MOU signed with the developer should be cancelled and the project terminated, especially as the developer has shown gross lack of commitment and diligent execution on the project.

That a letter be sent to the developer terminating the MoU and project in its entirety and that a Quantity Surveyor be engaged to assess the value of work done by the developer on site.

NAWOJ President, Ifeyinwa Omowole, must pay back N159 per dollar, amounting to about N4.3 million, being the balance of the expired $27,610 purported to have been exchanged for N150.

This amount is arrived at using the N309 exchange rate figure earlier agreed on for the conversion of the $420.

Omowole should also provide evidence of remittance of the earlier N4 million from this money to the NAWOJ Pen Jewel estate account.

That any land allocated to subscribers between 2013 and 2017 must be revoked outright.

That a former Chairman of the Lagos State Council of the NUJ, Deji Elumoye, must pay back the full money of any such revoked land to the allottees.

This is because allocation for the Abaren Village land in Mowe was concluded in 2012, urging subscribers to pay N60,000 for perimeter fencing to prevent encroachment.