Plateau NUJ Correspondents Reject Imposed Officials

There is no end in sight to the crises rocking the Plateau State Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) as 32 out of 48 registered members have rejected a purported imposition and inauguration of new officials of the chapel, describing the process as unconstitutional.

The members, in a letter addressed to the national president of the Nigerian of Journalists, Comrade Alhassan Yahaya dated August 13, made available to journalists in Jos on Saturday, said they reject “the purported imposition and illegal inauguration of Mr Douglas Francis of Arise TV as chairman, Mr John Farinola as vice chairman as well as Miss Comfort Pius as treasurer. This was done without conducting any election.”

According to the group, the crisis began “when the state council rejected and disqualified members of the credentials committee set up and inaugurated by the chapel’s congress over payment of ‘lump sum’ as check-off dues to the union

They said in the spirit of peace, “the chapel conveyed an emergency congress and reconstituted another credentials committee.”

They however alleged that, “The crisis was compounded with so much interference in the electoral process by the leadership of the state council, leading to the resignation of the Chairman and members of the reconstituted credentials committee, as well as the contestants in the election, leaving Mr Douglas Francis, as the only contestant four days to the expiration of the tenure of the incumbent executives (July 27, 2026).”

Following the expiration of tenure, the letter noted, “The state council appointed a three-man caretaker committee, made up of three former chairmen of the chapel (Mrs Tongnan Bawa, Mr Yemi Kosoko and Mr Isaac Shobayo), citing directives from the national secretariat of the NUJ.”

The committee was given “two weeks to conduct an election” and “came up with a timetable and guidelines indicating that the election would be held on Thursday, August 13, 2026.”

The members, however, said they were “worried and shocked by the unconstitutional action of the committee” when “three days before the day of election, organised an illegal inauguration for Mr Douglas Francis, Mr John Farinola and Miss Comfort Pius as officials of the chapel, claiming that they have concluded their assignment.”

“Forms were not openly sold to interested members,” they added.

The correspondents also accused the state council of “selective application of the provisions of the NUJ Constitution.”

“While the Council is insisting on strict compliance with the Constitution in dealing with the affairs of the Correspondents’ Chapel, we are concerned that similar standards do not appear to have been applied to other chapels,” the letter said.

Citing an example, they stated that “the chairman of the PPC Chapel is alleged not to meet the qualification requirements stipulated by the Constitution for the position of Chairman. Yet, the same State Council proceeded to inaugurate him into office.

“If the Constitution must be strictly followed in the affairs of the Correspondents’ Chapel, why should the same constitutional provisions not apply equally to other chapels?”

The group further questioned the eligibility of some state council officials, saying: “If the provisions of the NUJ Constitution are to be followed to the latter, particularly Article 3, Section 3(a) and (b), serious questions arise regarding the eligibility of certain officials of the state council of the union

“Against this background… we have lost confidence in the State Council to continue to mediate or supervise the resolution of the crisis,” the members declared.

They added, “Consequently, we have, so far, boycotted the activities of the Plateau State Council pending the intervention and resolution of the matter by the National Secretariat of the NUJ.”

The 32 members called on the NUJ National Secretariat to “constitute an independent committee or other appropriate body at the national level to take over the matter, investigate the issues raised and guide the Chapel towards a credible, transparent and constitutionally compliant resolution.”

They also informed the national body that “the Chapel currently has no substantive leadership and therefore cannot continue to operate in a vacuum.”

“Consequently, after due consultation among members, we have appointed the following persons to spearhead the affairs of the Chapel pending the resolution of the crisis: Mr Shittu Tanko, Mr Dickson Adama, Mrs Asile Emmanuel,” the letter said.

In their prayers to the National Secretariat, they demanded that it should “Ensure that normalcy is restored in the chapel in line with the constitution of the NUJ.”

They equally prayed the national secretariat of the NUJ to “Constitute an independent committee or other appropriate body at the national level to take over and independently handle the matter.”

In addition, the correspondents asked the national body to “Investigate the issues raised concerning the purported imposition and inauguration of officials of the Plateau State Correspondents’ Chapel.”

Similarly, they called on the NUJ national body to “Direct that any leadership arrangement imposed without a valid election be withdrawn, and that a credible, transparent and constitutionally compliant election be conducted for the Correspondents’ Chapel.”