STANLEY JOB RETURNS, AS RIVERS NUJ ELECTS NEW EXCO

**Comrade Stanley Job, newly re-elected Rivers NUJ Chairman, displayin his certificate of return**

Comrade Stanley Job Stanley has been reelected as Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Rivers State Council, following the succesful conclusion of the rescheduled Union polls, conducted by the credentials Committee, ably chaired by Comrade Victor Tew which held at the Ernest Ikoli Press Centre, Moscow Road, Port Harcourt, to elect a new Exco for the State chapter, on Wednesday, January 19, 2022.

Comrade Job of the Consolidation Team had polled 150 delegate votes to defeat his only opponent and immediate past Vice Chairman of the Council, Comrade Paul Bazia Nsaneh, contesting under the Redemption Team, who scored 140 votes, in a keenly contested election.

The Consolidation Team equally coasted home to a landslide victory in all the other contested positions to produce a clean sweep of Exco members to man the affairs of Rivers NUJ for the next three years.

Comrade Ike Wigodo was also returned as the secretary of the Union, defeating Comrade Obiandu Madume convincingly, while Comrade Okechukwu Maru scored 145 votes to win the Vice chairmanship in a closely contested battle that saw his opponent, Walson Asako scoring 140 votes.

The Assistant Secretary went to Comrade Esther Obilor, the victorious Treasurer was Comrade Doris Tam Morrison who beat the immediate past occupant of the seat, Ify Ossai with a margin of 153 votes as against 132 votes, while the new NUJ Rivers Financial secretary is Miebaka Fubara who scored 151 votes to beat the immediate past occupant, Victor Giadom who polled 135 votes.
Comrade Ominini Leslie (Omitex) also became the first female occupant of the office of Auditor as she scored 162 votes to beat Tonye Orabere who scored 126.

The Election, which was the final event for the 7th Triennial Conference of the Rivers NUJ, had actually commenced on August 13, 2021, but technical and procedural issues truncated the polls twice and a seemingly irreconcilable impasse had loomed ominously over the election, until the State Commissioner for information and Communications, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim had, in partnership with Hon. Ogbonna Nwuke (formerly of the House of Representatives), Comrade Opaka Dokubo NUJ S/South zonal Vice Chairman, Comrade Ignatius Chukwu and other union elders, brokered a lasting peace between the contending interests.

Writing on his verified social media Facebook handle, Comrade Paul Bazia, in a post titled “Sportsmanship on display”, accepted the outcome of the election and congratulated the winner, thus:

Sportsmanship On Display.

I want to thank all my supporters, who stood firmly by me throughout the contest.
A winner has emerged, we lost by 10 votes.
Stanley Job Stanley got 150 votes while I got 140 votes.

It was a good fight.
I want to congratulate Stanley Job Stanley and all his team members for the victory.
I Will support him to succeed in the next 3years.

God bless Nigeria Union of Journalists, Rivers State Council.

Paul Bazia Nsaneh.

In his own comments after the election, the Director General of the victorious Consolidation Team, Comrade Boye Salau wrote on his verified Social media Facebook handle thus:

SWEET VICTORY: IT’S MARVELLOUS IN OUR EYES, THANK YOU COLLEAGUES

Good day, dear colleagues.

On behalf of the NUJ Consolidation Team, I want to appreciate all members of the pen fraternity in Rivers State for their huge turnout and peaceful conduct that led to the successful conclusion of the NUJ Rivers State Council election, yesterday.

As we are all aware, the Rivers State Council election had been in the news for the past six months, having suffered six postponements.

We, therefore, give all honours, adorations, praises and glory to Almighty God for making us see light at the end of the tunnel.

Yesterday’s landslide victory for our team was made possible by the benevolence of Almighty God, the I am, the I am. We thank you oh Lord for this sweet victory!

We sincerely appreciate our dear Hon. Commissioner for Information and Communications, Pastor Nsirim; elders of our Union, ably led by our all-time mentor and former House of representatives member, Hon. Ogbonna Nwuke, for their timely intervention that led to the peaceful resolution of the election impasse. We owe you a debt of gratitude, Sirs.

Our appreciation also goes to all our supporters across all the 23 chapels in Rivers State, most especially delegates from 17 chapels that participated in the election, for standing firm and resolute behind our candidates.

Your overwhelming support which translated into total victory for all our candidates yesterday is incredibly awesome. It bears an eloquent testimony to the fact that you appreciate good and purposeful leadership which Comrade Stanley Job Stanley led executive promises to provide in the next three years. Thank you, dear colleagues.

To my inestimable members of the Consolidation Team, I’m short of words to convey my most sincere appreciation to you. You guys are exceptionally wonderful. Without your doggedness, resilience and commitment, we would not have been savouring this sweet victory, today. I love you all.

We also extend our appreciation to members of the Credentials Committee and national officers who came to supervise the election, most especially our own zonal Vice President, comrade Opaka Dokubo, for a job well done.

This appreciation will not be complete without thanking members of the Liberation Team for running a good race. More commendable is the spirit of sportsmanship displayed yesterday by the team’s leadership shortly after the swearing in of the newly elected officers. Thank you, comrades Paul Basia, Obiandu Madume, Amadi Akujobi and co for conceding defeat gallantly. With this spirit, there is no victor, no vanquished. We can now go back to the same table where we used to dine and wine together before the election stalemate.

Meanwhile, we want to assure you that we have forgiven every utterance said and action committed against our team in the course of the election. We do apologise too to any member of the Union who may have felt offended by any of our misdemeanors. To err is human.

With the coming onboard of Okechukwu Maru as Vice Chairman, Doris Tams Morrison as Treasurer, Esther Obialor as Asst Secretary, Fubara Miebaka as Financial Secretary and Ominini Leslie-Wokoma as the first female Auditor, we have no doubt that the engine of comrades Stanley Job Stanley and Ike Wigodo led administration which started running since July 2018 will be more oiled to run more smoothly.

It’s our belief that with the support of every member of NUJ in Rivers State, the new executives will provide accountable, transparent, inclusive, purposeful and pragmatic leadership.

Once again, we thank you for giving the Consolidation Team another three years to consolidate on its achievements. God bless you all.

Signed:
Boye Salau
Director General,
NUJ Consolidation Team 2022