The Guild of Online Media Practitioners of Oyo State (GOMPOS) has accused the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo Council, of a plot to exclude its members from participating in the council’s election scheduled for Tuesday, December 9, 2025.
The allegation was contained in a statement jointly signed on Thursday by the GOMPOS Chairman, Comrade Femi Atoyebi, and Secretary, Comrade Dapo Falade. The group, which serves as the officially recognised and duly inaugurated online chapel of the NUJ Oyo Council, also demanded an immediate refund of ₦750,000—payments made by 25 of its members for the 2025 Annual Due and Identity Cards.
According to GOMPOS, the move to disenfranchise its members is allegedly being orchestrated by some individuals within the outgoing Ademola Babalola-led administration of the Oyo NUJ Council, in conjunction with certain officials at the NUJ National Secretariat.
The guild recalled that the plot became evident at the July Congress when outgoing Chairman, Comrade Babalola, reportedly declared that GOMPOS members could not vote because they were “publishers and not reporters.” This position was contested during the congress, with members citing that the chapel was properly inaugurated in November 2022 under Babalola’s own leadership.
Efforts to resolve the issue through the NUJ national and state leaderships, GOMPOS said, have yielded no positive results. The group explained that documents validating its status and voting rights under the NUJ Constitution were submitted to the National Secretariat.
GOMPOS further narrated that on November 20, 2025, the NUJ National Secretary, Comrade Achike Achude, contacted its secretary to request further clarification on the chapel’s eligibility to vote. He reportedly assured that fairness would prevail.
However, when Comrade Falade contacted Achude again on November 30 to get updates, he was directed to speak with the NUJ National President, Alhaji Alhassan Yayha. According to the statement, although the president initially promised to revert after claiming to be unaware of the chapel’s file, he has since neither responded to calls nor replied to lengthy WhatsApp messages sent between Monday and Wednesday.
GOMPOS expressed disappointment over the “cold silence” from the national leadership, saying it amounts to a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise a duly recognised chapel. The guild also questioned the sudden reduction of recognised chapels in Oyo NUJ from 22 to 11 ahead of the election.
The group noted that it has fully participated in union activities since its inauguration, including being represented at the Triennial Delegates Conference in Owerri in November 2024, which produced the current national leadership.
GOMPOS declared that if its members are ultimately barred from voting in the forthcoming election, the NUJ must refund all dues and ID card payments on or before Monday, December 8, 2025.
