Eight suspended members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Ogun State have challenged their suspension by the union’s National Executive Council (NEC), describing the disciplinary action as unconstitutional and legally flawed.
The aggrieved members, in a petition addressed to the National Ethics and Disciplinary Committee through the National Secretary, alleged that the NEC based its decision on a constitutional provision that does not exist in the 2023 NUJ Constitution.
According to the petition, the suspension was purportedly anchored on “Article 7 (5d)” of the constitution, a section the appellants insist is nonexistent.
They described the action as a “constitutional catastrophe,” arguing that Article 7 of the union’s constitution contains only three sections relating to the establishment of the Ethics Committee, procedural guidelines, and penalties.
“One cannot suspend members under a phantom constitutional provision conjured from thin air. A disciplinary sanction founded on fiction rather than law is null, void and of no effect,” the petition stated.
The suspended members maintained that the alleged constitutional error fundamentally invalidates the entire disciplinary process and raises serious concerns about the procedural integrity of the NEC.
They further claimed that the NEC was either misled or denied full details surrounding the Ogun NUJ electoral crisis, which emanated from the controversial state triennial delegates conference held on December 11, 2025.
The petitioners listed several grievances arising from the exercise, including alleged irregularities in the constitution of the Credentials Committee, electoral violations, arbitrary disqualification of qualified candidates, and breaches relating to dues, nomination and eligibility requirements.
The group said they had exhausted all available internal dispute-resolution channels, including petitions, protests, legal correspondence and requests for dialogue, before resorting to judicial intervention.
They also faulted the inclusion of some suspended members who were reportedly not involved in any court action, specifically mentioning Comrades Sekinat and Adejoke Adeleye.
Describing the suspension as “oppressive, unjust and profoundly irresponsible,” the appellants questioned the legality and motive behind sanctioning individuals who allegedly played no direct role in the legal dispute.
The petition also highlighted the case of Comrade Oluwole Shokunbi, a former two-term chairman and former secretary of the Ogun NUJ Council, who they claimed was disenfranchised despite meeting constitutional and financial obligations.
According to the appellants, his experience reflects a growing erosion of democratic principles within the council and suggests that disciplinary mechanisms are being deployed for political vendetta.
The suspended members urged the National Ethics and Disciplinary Committee to immediately lift the suspension imposed on the eight members, publicly exonerate those wrongly affected, and prevent what they described as future misuse of “imaginary constitutional provisions” for punitive actions.
They warned that the issue goes beyond individual sanctions and poses a broader challenge to the NUJ’s commitment to constitutional governance, fairness and institutional credibility.
“If constitutional provisions can be fabricated to silence dissent, then no member of the union is safe from arbitrary persecution,” the petition added.
The appellants called on the committee to uphold justice, transparency and constitutional order, stressing that the union must remain a professional body governed by law and due process.
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