Christiana Gokyo, Jos
Thirty-two out of the 48 registered members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Plateau State Council, have dissociated themselves from and rejected the “purported imposition and illegal inauguration” of a three-man Executive Committee (EXCO) by the Caretaker Committee set up by the NUJ Plateau State Council, describing the process as unconstitutional.
In a letter addressed to the National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Comrade Alhassan Yahaya, dated August 13 and made available to journalists in Jos on Saturday, the members expressed their strong and unequivocal rejection of the purported imposition and inauguration of Mr Douglas Francis of Arise TV as Chairman, Mr John Farinola as Vice Chairman, and Miss Comfort Pius as Treasurer.
Our Correspondent reports that the crisis began when the State Council rejected and disqualified the first members of the Credentials Committee set up and inaugurated by the Chapel’s Congress over the payment of a “lump sum” as check-off dues to the union.
In the spirit of peace, the Chapel convened an emergency congress and reconstituted another Credentials Committee, which became the second Credentials Committee.
However, following alleged interference by the leadership of the NUJ in the work of the Credentials Committee, the crisis was compounded by what the members described as excessive interference in the electoral process.
This led to the resignation of the Chairman and members of the reconstituted Credentials Committee, as well as the withdrawal of contestants from the election, leaving Mr Douglas Francis as the only contestant four days before the expiration of the tenure of the incumbent executives on July 27, 2026.
Following the expiration of the tenure, the incumbent Chairman summoned a meeting to enable the Chapel’s Congress to constitute a Caretaker Committee.
However, the State Council presented its own nominees, announcing that it had appointed a three-man Caretaker Committee comprising three former Chairmen of the Chapel: Tongnan Bawa, Yemi Kosoko and Mr Isaac Shobayo. The Council said the appointment was based on a directive from the NUJ National Secretariat.
The Plateau State Council gave the committee two weeks to conduct an election. The committee subsequently released a timetable and guidelines indicating that the election would hold on Thursday, August 13, 2026.
The members, however, expressed shock at what they described as the committee’s unconstitutional action when, three days before the scheduled election, it allegedly organised an illegal inauguration of Mr Douglas Francis, Mr John Farinola and Miss Comfort Pius as officials of the Chapel, claiming that it had concluded its assignment.
According to the members, those interested in contesting the election were waiting for nomination forms to be made available, but the committee allegedly failed to open the sale of forms to members.
Our Correspondent also reports that the State Council insisted on strict compliance with the NUJ Constitution in dealing with the affairs of the Correspondents’ Chapel, while the members expressed concern that similar standards did not appear to have been applied to other chapels.
They cited the case of the current Chairman of the Plateau Publishing Company (PPC) Nigerian Standard Chapel, who they alleged did not meet the qualification requirements stipulated by the Constitution for the position of Chairman, yet was inaugurated into office by the same State Council.
The members questioned why the constitutional provisions should not apply equally to all chapels if the Constitution was being strictly enforced in the affairs of the Correspondents’ Chapel.
The aggrieved members further questioned the eligibility of some State Council officials, noting that if the provisions of the NUJ Constitution were to be followed to the letter, particularly Article 3, Section 3(a) and (b), serious questions would arise regarding the eligibility of certain officials of the State Council.
“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.
Consequently, they said they had boycotted the activities of the Plateau State Council pending the intervention and resolution of the matter by the NUJ National Secretariat.
The 32 members urged the National Secretariat of the NUJ 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 and Mrs Asile Emmanuel,” the letter stated.
In their prayers to the National Secretariat, the members demanded that normalcy be restored in the Chapel in line with the NUJ Constitution.
They also called on the National Secretariat 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 urged 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 Secretariat 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.
They also urged the NUJ to review the eligibility of Mr Pam Musa of New Telegraph to contest for the position of Vice Chairman of the Plateau State Council.
The members assured that they remained committed to the principles of democracy, justice, fairness, transparency and due process, and urged all concerned to refrain from actions capable of further deepening the crisis within the Chapel.