By Omotayo Toyeeb
The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has been taken to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Abuja Division, over alleged violations of its 2023 amended constitution.
The claimant, Abdulwaheed Olayinka Adubi, a member of the Union, filed the suit, challenging the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on August 9, 2024, which purportedly extended the tenure of the Central Working Committee (CWC) beyond its stipulated end date of October 6, 2024.
Relying on Article 5(a)(3) of the NUJ Constitution, Adubi argued that the NEC lacks the power to extend the tenure of the CWC members, whose three-year term was set to expire in October 2024.
The constitution mandates that a Triennial National Delegates’ Conference should be held every three years for purposes including receiving reports, revising the constitution, and electing national officers of the Union.
The Chris Isiguzo-led CWC was elected on October 7, 2021, with a three-year tenure, and according to Adubi, any extension of their mandate constitutes a violation of the constitution.
He described the tenure elongation as a gross abuse of the Union’s body of laws.
In court documents filed on September 10, 2024, Adubi’s legal counsel, Ibrahim Bawa, SAN, argued that the tenure extension orchestrated by Chris Isiguzo, who is a respondent in the suit, is not only unconstitutional but also an attempt by the CWC to perpetuate itself in office.
Adubi is also praying the court to dissolve the current CWC and allow the Chairmen and Secretaries of Councils to manage the Union’s affairs after October 6, 2024, pending the conduct of elections within three months as stipulated by the NUJ Constitution.
The claimant further pointed out that the leadership of the Union failed to establish a Credentials Committee by July 6, 2024, as mandated under Article 5(9)(a) of the NUJ Constitution, which stipulates that the committee should be put in place three months before the expiration of the CWC’s tenure.
The power of the Credentials Committee to impose a hefty fee of N350,000 for the nomination form for the office of the president and other CWC aspirants is also being challenged by Adubi as unconstitutional.
It would be recalled that Abdullahi Dare Akogun, a chairmanship candidate in the Kwara NUJ 2024 elections, had previously sued the NUJ president for allegedly manipulating the July 31, 2024, elections in favor of his opponent, despite a court summons delivered on the day of the election.
