…caretaker committee to be appointed to run council’s affairs
The Eighth Triennial Delegates Conference of the Rivers State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, ended in a stalemate on Wednesday after an alleged interference by the state government went awry.
The National Vice-president of the union, Mr. Opaka Dokubo, who presided over the business session of the conference announced to the delegates at about 5.30 pm that the election of a new state executive committee of the union has been suspended. He said the chairmen and secretaries of the respective chapels if the NUJ in the state would meet immediately to find a way forward for the state council of the NUJ until elections are held.
Proceedings had entered a stalemate after the Dokubo told the conference that against NUJ tradition, a harmonised list of unopposed candidates endorsed by candidates in the election had been adopted.
After he called on the zonal secretary of the union to commence with the presentation of the harmonised list of adopted candidates, some delegates raised their voices and disrupted proceedings.
The conference remained at that state until leaders of the union came together and decided that the election be suspended until another date.
Dokubo then convened a meeting of the chapel chairmen and secretaries to discuss the way forward, which may include appointing a caretaker committee to run the affairs of the union until elections are held.
Earlier on, the outgone Chairman, Mr. Stanley Job and the outgone secretary, Mr. Ike Wigodo, had presented their three-year reports. But the Financial Secretary, the Treasurer and Auditor were not available to present their own reports. A motion was however adopted that all the reports be presented at the first congress of the incoming administration.
The opening session was successfully held with veteran journalist Ignatius Chukwu delivering a paper on Journalism: Maintaining Professionalism In A Politically Charged Environment.
The Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joe Johnson, who was scheduled to be the Special Guest of Honour was absent.
Similar circumstances had scuttled the Triennial Delegates Conference of the council in 2021 when tables were turned and bottles broken. It was a caretaker committee that ran the affairs of the council for four months before the last state executive committee was elected.
The two candidates for chairman in the last election were Paul Bazia-Taneh and Ogboka Umeda.
