Anambra Nuj suspends the chairman of the council, Emeka Odogwu on financial misconduct, others

This decision was made due to various offenses, including Odogwu’s failure to extract internal mechanisms before reporting trade union matters on the Public Service Directorate (DSS). Crisis is brewing at the Anambra State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), as the correspondent chapel announced the suspension of the chairman, Odogwu Emeka Odogwu. The suspension according to a statement jointly by Chapel chairman Chuks Ilozue and Secretary Lucy Osuizigbo had an immediate effect on Wednesday. This decision was made due to various offenses, including Odogwu’s failure to extract internal mechanisms before reporting trade union matters on the Public Service Directorate (DSS). According to the statement, Odogwu’s suspension stems from his manipulation of records in the last NUJ election in Anambra. “Odogwu allegedly claimed the membership of the correspondent chapel and disputed the Anambra NuJ board election without profaning the leadership of the chapel,” the statement said. The statement further accused Odogwu of ‘serious violation of confidence and impunity’, especially given his status as a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, which does not qualify for membership in the correspondent chapel. “We cannot have a situation where our chairman is not accountable to us,” Ilozue said. “His actions form a serious violation of trust and impunity.” Additional infrasions include Odogwu’s command to pay members’ closing fees and practice fees in a private account instead of the union’s account, which is considered a ‘blatant disregard of rules’. “It is unacceptable for our chairman to ask members to pay fees in a private account,” Osuizigbo said. “This is a blatant disregard for our rules and procedures.” The leadership of the chapel made it clear that they did not intend to join the NUJ State Council, but would rather set the record. “We do not intend to work together at the State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) knowing that we are one more family,” the statement reads. “However, we want to correct the record.” The version of the Chapel on events highlights a series of differences of opinion and misunderstandings between Odogwu and the correspondent chapel, including issues regarding checking fees, training fees and the chapel election. “We tried to solve these problems internally, but our chairman refused to listen,” Ilozue said. “We have no choice but to suspend him pending his purification of these offenses.” The statement was partly read, “Re: Disclaimer: Anambra State Correspondents’ Chapel takes on new leadership: Set the record straight”. “We do not intend to go to the State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) knowing that we are one more family. However, we want to correct the record.” 1. On the term of office of Chief Chuks Ilozue: Chief Ilozue’s term of office went on July 27, 2024 and in the monthly meeting of the June 2024 chapel he announced it properly, after which a motion was moved and maintained that the established administration should continue for another term. “2. Know the provisions of the NUJ Constitution that the election observed by the State Council should be held to legalize the leadership, the chapel wrote to NUJ in a June 3, 2024 letter informing it about the resolution.” 3. Nevertheless, the chapel once again wrote to the NUJ older list of members of the Electoral/ Credition Committee for approval. “4. The NUJ wrote back to the chapel in a letter of July 10, 2024 in which he approved the election, but he advised that members of the election/credentials as well as contenders and voters must pay all fees prescribed in the NUJ Constitution.” 5. However, just as the chapel prepared for the election, Nuj chairman Emeka Odogwu, however, took the chairman (Ilozue) to a corner and claimed to have gained money privately and paid the check fees of the chapel and had to be refunded. “6. Odogwu explained that this was the reason why he asked the chairman to pay his own check money and practice fees in a private bank account that the chairman Ilozue refused.” 7. It continued back and forth until the chapel decided to hold its election on September 11, 2024. “8. Surprisingly, on September 9, 2024, the chairman, Ilozue, received a call from the Department of State Security Service (DSS), and asked that the election be stopped, with the resolved gray areas. After Iilozue traveled.” 9 9. Upon his return, he met with DSS officials who, after discussion, asked him to write to them in which he said when the chapel election would hold. “10. The Chapel wrote the DSS in a letter of 4 March 2025 informing them that the chapel’s election would be as Wednesday, March 19, 2025.” 11. On March 17, 2025, Rev. Office called on the chairman, Ilozue, that Odogwu was applying the pressure and asked that the election not hold. “12. In light of this, the chapel noted that Odogwu deliberately wanted to crash the chapel and therefore the chapel should fight for survival. A chapel that does not hold meetings and other activities is on the verge of extinction.” “13. It should be noted that more than half of the members of the chapel have their closing fees through the union at the source, while most of the remaining members already pay their practicing fees to the chapel before the election.” 14. “However, it is important to note that Odogwu, who claimed to have settled the fault of the chapel to the council, did so without consulting the Chapel chairman on the payment proposal, the number of members paid or the amount actually paid.” 15. If Odogwu claimed to have cleared the fault of the chapel, why were members then arisen during the last election of the Nuj Anambra Council? ” It is for this dilemma of paying the council’s money in the private account that the chapel could not pay the practicing fees that have so far been realized from members to the Council. ” WhatsApp: https://watapp.com/channel/0029Vafclvth5jm6ssssp7m2y