A staff writer with The Sun Newspapers, Oluseye Ojo, today emerged as chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo State Council.
Ojo, who is the correspondent of The Sun Newspapers in Oyo State, polled a total of 36 votes, to defeat his opponent, Mr. Raji Adebayo, of Daily Independent, who scored a total of five votes.
The election was conducted between 9a.m and 2p.m by the Electoral Committee, chaired by Barrister Sola Adeyemo of The New Telegraph, at the chapel secretariat, Mokola, Ibadan, capital of Oyo State.
After the exercise, Adeyemo, a veteran journalist and legal luminary announced that a total of 43 ballot papers were used out of the 45 ballot papers that were printed, adding that two votes were invalid.
Jeremiah Oke of Daily Trust was also returned unopposed as vice chairman, while Mr. Dare Adeogodiran of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) was also returned unopposed as secretary of the chapel.
The oath of office was administered for them by the Secretary of NUJ in the state, Sola Oladapo, while the certificate of office were also presented to them by the Chairman of NUJ in the state Mr. Ademola Babalola.
The exercise was witnessed by the Special Assistant on Print Media to Governor Seyi Makinde of the state, Moses Alao, as well as security operatives, including the Department of State Services (DSS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC)
The unopposed aspirants for the positions of the Assistant Secretary, Treasurer, Financial Secretary, and Auditor were disqualified from contesting the election based on certain grounds.
Musiliu Adebayo of Daily Post, who aspired to become Assistant Secretary, was disqualified by the Electoral Committee and the state council of NUJ for his failure to present signed letter of appointment. But the new chairman has been empowered to conduct by-election to fill the vacant positions.
The NUJ chairman, in his address, congratulated the new executive of the Correspondents’ Chapel, and enjoined them to extend hands of fellowship to their colleagues that lost the election.
He also urged the new chairman of the chapel to ensure unity and fairness in the discharge of his duties.
In his acceptance speech, the new chairman, Oluseye Ojo, who appreciated the overwhelming support he got from majority of members of the chapel, promised to run a transparent, responsible and responsive administration, adding that he would leave no stone unturned to ensure that unity returns to the chapel.
“By God’s grace, my administration will pursue unity with tenacity of purpose and we shall achieve it. We have a lot to gain when we are united, and we have a lot to lose when we are not united. The time for politics is over. The time has come for a purposeful governance. I assure members of the chapel that we will build this institution. Disunity will not stop of we continue to prime up individuals, without building this institution and this institution must be bigger than individuals.
“The fact that have not been building institutions in Nigeria, but individuals is the major bane of Nigeria’s underdevelopment. If you recalled the events of what transpired in the United States of America during the last presidential election, the insitutions in the United States stood its ground and refused to bend the rule.”
