Group releases final list of qualified candidates for FCT council election

The National Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Tuesday released the final list of candidates qualified to contest the 2015 election of its FCT council slated for Oct. 3.

The Chairman, Credentials Committee for the upcoming election, Mr Akin Olumalade of NewsWatch Times, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

Olumalade said the union released the final list after the national secretariat of the union had considered the petitions of some aspirants who had earlier been disqualified by the committee.

According to him, national secretariat cleared three candidates for the position of chairman.

"Those cleared are the current Chairman of the council, Mr Chuks Ehirim, the council Secretary, Mr Emmanuel Ogbeche and Mr Paul Ella of African Leadership Magazine.’’

He said that Mrs Blessing Adewole of Daily Independent, who had earlier been disqualified by the committee, was later cleared by the national body to contest for the position of treasurer, as it was found that she had held a position at the chapel level as stipulated by the constitution.

NAN recalls that the committee had on Sept. 17 disqualified Adewole, Mr Martins Odeh of NAN and Mrs Uche Chutta of the Federal Ministry of Information, after the screening of prospective aspirants.

According him, records of attendance of congress showed that Odeh attended four out of the 14 congresses.

He said that the committee disqualified Adewole and Chutta because they had never held any position at the chapel level as stipulated by the constitution.