BREAKING: Warri NUJ passes vote of no confidence on Churchill Oyowe, Delta NUJ chairman over coming election

The Warri Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists has passed a vote of no confidence on the Delta State Council Chairman, Comrade Churchill Oyowe, over alleged breach of the union’s constitution ahead of the chapel’s election scheduled for March 16, 2026.

The decision was reached during an emergency congress convened to deliberate on developments surrounding the conduct of the forthcoming election.

In a communiqué signed by Comrade Joe Ogbodu, Chairman of the Communiqué Drafting Committee; Comrade Onyeka Meleuwa, Secretary; Comrade Sunny Ariegwe; Comrade Victor Okpomor, Chairman of the Warri Correspondents’ Chapel; and Comrade Edeki Igafe, Secretary, members accused Oyowe of actions inconsistent with the NUJ Constitution 2023 (Amended).

The communiqué stated: “Based on the obvious violation of the NUJ Constitution 2023 (as Amended) by the Chairman of the Delta State Council, the Chapel consequently passed a vote of no confidence on the State Council Chairman, Comrade Churchill Oyowe.”

Members alleged that the chairman “unilaterally took the decision to unjustly disenfranchised some members by delisting them from the voters list of the Chapel’s election scheduled to hold on March 16, 2026 thereby contravening Article 3:3(g).”

The chapel also claimed that Oyowe had been running the council secretariat “as his personal estate as critical decisions affecting members of the council, including chapels, are taken without recourse to other members of the SWC,” contrary to Article 5:D(e) of the constitution.

The communiqué further noted that some qualified members, including online correspondents, were delisted from the voters’ list, an action the chapel said violated Section 3:2(a) of the NUJ Constitution.

Members insisted that “an election is not a screening exercise,” stressing that no individual, including the state council chairman, has the authority to screen members ahead of the March 16 election.

The motion for the vote of no confidence was moved by Comrade Joe Ogbodu, correspondent of The Sun Newspaper, and seconded by Comrade Emma Arubi, and was unanimously adopted by the 21 members present at the congress. The chapel also called on Oyowe to “immediately step aside, resign, or face impeachment,” while urging the NUJ national secretariat to intervene and reinstate members earlier delisted to participate in the election.