‎Court Sacks Cross River NUJ Chairman, Ndoma Akpet, Bars Him, Others From Seeking Re-Election

By Our Correspondent

The National Industrial Court sitting in Calabar, Wednesday nullified the 2012 election of Pastor Ndoma Akpet as the Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists NUJ, Cross River State Council.

In the judgement which was read for one hour by, Her Lordship, Justice Edith Agbakoba, the court also nullified the election of his entire executive as well as barred the Chairman, Ndoma Akpet and Ursula Ikpali, the Treasurer of the Union from seeking re-election while a fine of hundred thousand naira was awarded to the Chairman as fine.

The court also barred the Secretary of the Union, Mr. Gill Nsa from seeking re- election unless he pays up his professional fees as stipulated in the NUJ Constitution, the condition under which he was disqualified by the Credentials Committee in 2012.

Both Gill Nsa, the Secretary and Ursula Ikpali, the Treasurer were also sacked by the court.

The court also asked the sacked members of the exco to stop parading themselves as officers of the union and declared their tenure in office as a nullity and illegal, adding that their actions within the period were also null, void and of no effect.

The Court ordered the National Secretary of the Union to oversee the Cross River State Council for a period of thirty days within which another election should be conducted.

The sacked Chairman, Ndoma Akpet told CrossRiverWatch that though he had accepted the judgement, he intends to challenge the decision of the court to bar him from seeking re election.

“I have seen the judgement and I accept it in good faith. I however intend to appeal part of the judgement. If the court says they had determine that our election was faulty and set it aside, we still have a right to re contest; so I intend to challenge that part of the judgement.” Akpet said.

Meanwhile, the National Secretariat of the NUJ has accepted the judgement and ‎set up a caretaker committee led by Sam Egbala while the Chairman of NAWOJ, Uduak Ikang-Obeten and the State Chairman of Sport Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Eddie Bekom are members of the committee to oversee the day to day management of the State Council pending fresh election.

It will be recalled that Eniang Ndem, a Chairmanship candidate for the election in 2012 had instituted a matter at the Industrial Court in Calabar in 2012 to challenge the eligibility of Ndoma Akpet and others.