The Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalist, Ogun State Council, Comrade Soji Amosu has asked the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun not to welcome, the embattled National President of the Union, Chris Iziguso because, according to him his visit would offer the state no good of any sort.
The number one Journalist in the state said the state council didn't accord the visit and seriousness as they have not been dully informed or intimated about the reason and purpose of the visit, adding that Iziguso had some cases at the court bothering on his qualifications and that he should wait and clear himself before visiting the state.
Amosu who made this clarification at a Press Conference today said that it was apposite to address the prees on the need and state of the union as a few individuals decided to put into total ridicule before the general public.
His speech read:Journalism is a profession that is supposed to be an arbiter of truth, justice, fairness, and a noble profession where fraudulent and people with questionable characters should not have a free day as the people look unto it as the opium of a free, just, fair and egalitarian society, but alas, the Union has been thrown into a needless crisis because of the selfishness, distructive personal agenda of a few individuals at the national secretariat with the connivance of some disgruntled members at the State Council.
I need not bore you with the genesis of the crisis as everyone of us here is fully aware of it, but I will delve a little bit into where we are now, where we are going and the illegal tour of the embattled national President of the Union, Chris Iziquso.
He said the Executive led by him was the authentic EXCO of the union in the state, saying that any other person parading himself as chairman or executive, at the behest of Iziguso, was flouting an order of the court which they all knew its implications.
Amosu stated that the order that was made by a competent court jurisdiction has not been vacated, hence anyone parading himself as Chairman Caretaker Committee, where an elected Executive still existed was doing so at his own peril.
In his words: "We have decided to take the part of law because of our belief in practising what we say rather than resulting into self help. God has been on Our side, dear well meaning and resolute members of our union, you have been the fulcrum in which our struggle is hanging on".
We are not taking your support for granted. Our only mission is to salvage Ogun NUJ and the entire Union from the grip of an individual, that is why we are in Court, that is why we are not listening to any side talks as the outcome of our decision will determine where NUJ will be in future".
He said on tour of Chris Iziguso to the State, the Council would not have come out to react but for the infamous role he played in the imposition of candidate and the whole crisis bedeviling NUJ today in Ogun and no less than 11 Councils in Nigeria.
Amosu said the president was supposed to be a just father to all, a rallying point, "but alas, we have a fickle mind and man of no character as a president. Never in the history of our great Union have we had it so bad, imagine a President ordering that election should be conducted Six in the morning".
The Ogun NUJ Chairman speech further read. A president that unilaterally annulled an election because of his unfounded allegation that the winner did not vote for him during the presidential election; a president that is facing three cases in different courts in the country based on his eligibility to be a Journalist, let alone lead us.
A leader that is leading a faction of the Union and causes the crisis rocking the Sports writer Association of Nigeria, SWAN, today. (We now have two factions of SWAN) the NAWOJ is also not left out. In fact we are in a turbulent period in the Union.
We believe that we don't deserve this kind of a leader at all, and I want to call on the past leaders, those who still have passion for the NUJ in the country to rise up and salvage the few that still remains from total collapse. History will remember the roles everyone of us is playing today.
Now to his tour of Ogun Council, One would have expected that as a leader he called himself, the embattled President would have used the opportunity to broker peace in the State, but as we speak today, the Executive of the Union has not been officially informed of his tour of the State, we only hear it from social media and hearsay, whereas he is hobnobbing with illegal caretaker committee that he put in place.
We also hear he is bragging that One thousand Amosu can not stop him from coming to Ogun State. Is a person making such statement a leader at all?
To this end, Amosu appealed to all our genuine members to boycott the reception of Chris Iziguso as his coming to Ogun State will aggravate already tensed situations on ground.
"We want to also call on the Ogun State Government not to honour the visit. His coming to Ogun State based on the reports we gathered is to get money from the government for his second term ambition, and to perpetrate illegality by flouting Court order".
He urged the government to remain neutral on the issue of Ogun NUJ crisis, Iziguso, because acvording to him, his visit has nothing to benefit the State, adding that they didn't want to embarrass the government with a protest against Iziguso.
He said their members have decided to protest his maladministration, as his coming was not in good faith. "we have written the Governor on why we are against his coming to the State", he chipped.
Amosu disclosed that the Caretaker committee has destroyed the commonwealth of the Union in the State, and that the Executive has already put motion on ground to invite ICPC to investigate the rationale behind the lease of a section of the Secretariat under a questionable and dubious circumstances, in connivance with the National President, knowing fully that the property in question belonged to Federal government.
"We understand that a whopping sum of Three million naira was shared by the illegal caretaker and the National President being a proceed from the illegal lease of the structure".
He stated that security agencies have been alerted and they hoped they would listen them as they Didn't want Ogun State to be in the news for negative matter, "notwithstanding, we don't want to be pushed to the wall".
The Soji A mosu Executive thanked members, for their support, saying they were not taking it for granted at all. "We know the passion and the tenacity in which you are supporting us, like I use to tell you, the struggle is not about Amosu becoming Chairman, but fighting injustice, lawlessness, godfatherism and the shenanigans in the Union.
He pledge the outcome of their struggle wouldl form the fulcrum in which future elections would stand as with the outcome. "No individual will sit somewhere and say he is the lord of manor. Let us forge ahead, and with few efforts, we shall get there".
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