The Oyo State Correspondent of The Nation newspaper, Yinka Adeniran, has been elected Chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo State Council, following an election held on Tuesday in Ibadan.
Adeniran secured a total of 31 votes to defeat his lone challenger, John Alabi of Silverbird Television, who polled 10 votes. The result underscored Adeniran’s broad acceptance among members of the Chapel, which comprises correspondents of major national media organisations operating in Oyo State.
In the Secretary’s race, Rotimi Agboluaje of The Guardian newspaper also emerged victorious after polling 31 votes, defeating Musliudeen Adebayo of Daily Post, who scored 10 votes.
Other officers elected unopposed during the exercise include Remi Koleosho of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) as Vice Chairman and Sheu Sulaimon, also of NAN, as Treasurer.
The election, which took place at the Correspondents’ Chapel Secretariat in Mokola, Ibadan, was monitored by officials of the NUJ Oyo State Council, led by the chairman, Comrade Akeem Abas, who was accompanied by the Secretary, Comrade Temiday Adu; the Treasurer, Comrade Moses Morenikeji; and the Ex-officio, Comrade Khalid Imran.
Speaking shortly before administering the oath of office to the newly elected executives, Abas commended members of the Correspondents’ Chapel for their peaceful conduct and the overall success of the exercise.
He described the poll as one of the most credible and orderly elections conducted in the history of the Oyo NUJ Council, urging members to continue to uphold professionalism, discipline and ethical standards in the discharge of their duties.
The council chairman also charged the new leadership to prioritise the welfare and collective interest of members while promoting journalistic integrity.
The election marked the first major assignment supervised by the Abas-led state executive, which assumed office barely a month ago.
In his acceptance speech, Adeniran expressed gratitude to leaders, elders and members of the Chapel for the confidence reposed in him, describing his emergence as an opportunity to serve at a critical time for the journalism profession.
He pledged to work with other members of the executive to build unity within the Chapel, restore professional standards, and protect the interests of correspondents operating in the state. Adeniran emphasised that the new executives remain members of the Chapel first and foremost, assuring that their leadership would be guided by service, accountability and collective progress.
He further appealed to members to give the new leadership the necessary support to enable it to achieve its mandate and reposition the Chapel for greater relevance within the union.
Out of the Chapel’s 48 registered members, 42 were accredited to vote during the election. One vote each was declared void in both the chairmanship and secretary contests.