Ogun NUJ Election: I don’t have preferred candidates – President
Chris Isiguzo, the national president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), says he has no favorites for the union’s Ogun State Council elections, which will be held on Thursday in Abeokuta.
All of the candidates approved by the electoral body to run in the elections, according to Mr. Isiguzo, are his candidates.
It has come to my attention that some persons have persisted in mentioning my name and the names of other union executives while making a variety of accusations in the run-up to the next Ogun Council election. Wole Sokunbi, the former chairman of the council, had earlier on Tuesday pleaded with me to interfere with the election through a message he sent to my WhatsApp, he claimed.
“He (Mr Sokunbi, said so many things, (I will post his message here if it becomes necessary). But, I made it clear to him that I don’t intend to interfere in the election since it was the decision of NEC for the election to take place,” Mr Isiguzo said.
The NUJ president said he was ready to work with whoever emerges at the poll, stressing that the council has experienced enough crisis; and it is therefore time for it to unite and make progress
“I am very much ready to congratulate and work with whoever emerges. The union is one and we must see ourselves as members of one family. Again, I want to make it clear that I, have no preferred candidates.”
Mr Iziguzo advised members of the council to ensure that the election goes peacefully, and to ignore fake news, hate speeches, rumours, speculations and threats from any quarters
“We at the National Secretariat remain clearly neutral as far as this election is concerned. No sane leader will be excited while part of the territory he leads remains in crisis. I plead with you people to use the opportunity of this election to send a strong message to the general public that you have decided to let the past to remain in the past,” Mr Isiguzo said.
The NUJ had been enmeshed in a leadership crisis in the state that some members feared may lead to dispute in the elections
