The national president, Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, Dr Chris Isiguzo, yesterday declared the December 4, 2024, Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, Federal Capital Territory, FCT, council election remains sacrosanct.
In a chat with journalists at the NUJ National Secretariat in Abuja, Isiguzo said the process is going smoothly, and everything to hold it has been implemented.
He said, “I don’t think there’s any problem with the situation in our union’s Federal Capital Territory Council.
“The elections are going smoothly because the FCT Council leadership, in line with the constitution of NUJ, made their nominations through Congress and sent the list to us.
“It is the responsibility of the National Secretary to go through the list they have sent to ensure that it complies with the relevant sections of the constitution and that we did.
“We wrote to the FCT Council to provide the details of the people they nominated as electoral committee members. As we speak, two weeks later, they have yet to write to the National Secretary. In addition, I need to find out what they were trying to achieve by that.
However, he said the National Secretariat received some petitions from some members of the FCT NUJ Council, but all three petitions needed merit and were dismissed.
“We, of course, subjected their petitions to the internal mechanism of the union, and we found out that the petitions lacked merit, and they were dismissed ultimately. So, the three members of the electoral committee were revalidated.
“So I can tell you that whatever they are doing in the council has the implicit endorsement of the union’s National Secretary.
“We have a constitution that has been reviewed. In the past, it was not explicitly stated that the National Secretary should be the supervisory body for councils regarding elections, electoral committees, etc.
“But now it is clear; it makes it a lot easier. Therefore, that has been done, and I think they are going smoothly. Of course, the elections will still go ahead as scheduled”, he said.
According to him, a lawyer also wrote the National Secretariat saying all the process should be halted as the matter is now at the Industrial Court, but he (Isiguzo) said the lawyer does not have such powers to stop the election, which he pointed out that the court is yet to mention the supposed matter nor given hearing.
“Some three days ago, they brought court processes to the National Secretary, which, of course, as a law-abiding institution, we receive, we don’t decline.
“And the only thing is that when we went through, we discovered that a lawyer was writing and asking us to stay in action. I am curious to know when lawyers started doing that, playing the role of the judiciary. If you have gone to court, you also allow the court to make pronouncements.
“And as we speak, there is no court pronunciation. Before hearing this, the date for what is mentioned had yet to be listed. Therefore, the matter has yet to be listed. When it is listed and given to a judge at the industrial court, a date will be assigned for mention.
“After that, another date will be assigned for hearing. However, the lawyer immediately wrote to us, saying, do not do anything; whatever you do will be sub-judice. I don’t know when lawyers started dispensing interlocutory, injunction, or interim injunction, as the case may be.
“I have never heard that before. I am not a lawyer; that may be the new normal. Where lawyers now write and tell you once they have instituted a matter at the court, they now tell you don’t do anything? Then, it makes no sense to the court. If a lawyer can write and say don’t do anything, there is no need for the court to hear the matter anymore.
“So as we speak, there is no injunction anywhere that stops the election of the FCT. But our last communication was that they should go ahead and do their job, and you know that the election must take place on the 4th of December”, he affirmed.
On members who drag the union to court, the National President stated, “If you go to court without exhausting the internal mechanisms, the union has spelt out what should be done. I swore to protect and defend the NUJ’s constitution and will not input my own words. The constitution of the union is very clear. And I believe the union has its way of ensuring the constitution of the Nigeria Union of Journalists is not turned into a tissue paper.”
