NAWOJ screens out two vice presidents as Aisha Ibrahim runs unopposed in Kano
- Aisha Ibrahim is set to keep the NAWOJ national chair for a second term after no one else was cleared to contest it.
- The electoral committee barred Chizoba Ogbeche and Rabi Mohammed, both serving vice presidents, from the race.
- Fatima Rasheed and Hannatu Mohammed now stand alone for the two zonal positions at the Kano conference.
The Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) looks set to keep Aisha Ibrahim as its national chairperson for another three years, after the association's electoral committee cleared her as the only candidate for the post.
The committee also cleared the national secretary, Wasilah Ladan, and a number of other national officers without a challenger, ahead of the association's delegates conference in Kano.
But the screening did not go quietly. Two serving vice presidents were stopped from defending their seats, and the committee said it held its ground despite what it described as pressure, blackmail, threats and harassment aimed at its members and at the national chairperson.
Why the two vice presidents were stopped
Chizoba Ogbeche, who is vice president for Zone D (North Central), was knocked out for not meeting a constitutional rule on how often she attended congresses at her chapel level, according to the committee.
Rabi Mohammed, the Zone A vice president, was removed for a different reason: she took a political appointment as Director of Social Mobilisation at the Sokoto State Universal Basic Education Board.
Under the constitution of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the body NAWOJ belongs to, any member who accepts a political appointment can no longer vote or be voted for in the union or its affiliates.
Neither woman had spoken publicly about the decision as of Saturday. Daily Post reported the disqualifications as allegations, and both are yet to react officially.
With the two seats now open, Fatima Rasheed of Kwara State is the only cleared candidate for Zone D, and Hannatu Mohammed, a former chairperson of the Katsina chapter of NAWOJ, is alone in the race for Zone A.
What happens next
Delegates from across the country will gather in Kano for the association's 12th Triennial Delegates Conference, where the remaining contested positions will be decided by ballot.
The new officers will run NAWOJ's affairs for the next three years. In September, the national secretariat set up a nine-member credentials committee to handle preparations for the conference.
