Comrade Alhasan Yahaya now National President of NUJ.
Comrade Alhasan Yahaya who hails from Gombe state has emerged the new President of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ.
Before his emergence, he was the deputy National President of NUJ. He was elected at the 8th triennial conference of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Owerri, Imo state. He polled a total of Four hundred and thirty six votes to defeat his rivals Comrade Bamidele Atunbi former National Treasurer of the Union who got 97 votes and Comrade Garba Mohammed who scored 39 votes.
The election which was conducted at the 8th Triennial Delegates Conference of the Union held in Owerri Imo State which brought together about Six hundred delegates from the State Councils in the Country and hundreds of observers. Also elected unopposed was the Deputy National President, Comrade Abimbola Oyetunde, General Manager Radio Nigeria Bronze FM Edo State and former BOT of the union.Other National Officers of the Union were unopposed including the National Treasurer Comrade Victor Ndukwe who was the former Abia State Council Chairman, while Ronke Samo was re-elected the Vice President of B-Zone (Southwest) unopposed.The election conducted amidst tight security had Comrade Mike Ikeogwu as the Chairman of the electoral Committee and presided by the Representative of the NLC President, Joe Ajaero.
Earlier,Dr. Chris Isiguzo, former president expressed his gratitude to his colleagues for the opportunity to lead the Nigeria journalists and urged all journalists to remain in NUJ. He also thanked the Imo state governor, Mr. Hope Uzodinma, for providing a conducive environment for the conference.
His Excellency, Hope Uzodinma, governor Imo state, described the outgoing president of NUJ’s leadership as transformative while noting that free press is necessary for a healthy democracy and a mechanism for holding public office holders responsible. The Imo state governor who equally identified key roles of the media including to provide reliable information, acting as watchdog among others noted that fake news was becoming too rampant and urged the NUJ to do more training for its members as well as engage in developmental reporting.