Edo NUJ raises c’ttee to probe N4.5m fraud in Correspondents’ Chapel

By Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin

The Edo state Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ has reconstituted her ethics and disciplinary committee with five new members.
The committee is headed by Mr. Simeon Osagie of Merit Chape, replaces a similar one which was disbanded by the Congress of the Union over a shoddy job last year.
The committee which has two weeks to submit its report, was inaugurated last week by the state Chairman of NUJ, Sir Roland Osakue on the orders of the National NUJ President, with Mr. Aliu Ozioruva Alemma, and other members of the State Council Executives present.
Its mandate is to investigate how the former Correspondents Chapel Executives led by one Simon Ebegbulem mismanaged the sum of N4.5 million realized at the 2017 Correspondents’ Forum, where Governor Godwin Obaseki delivered a lecture.
The committee which will commence hearing next week will be confronted with such information as the claim by the chapel that it paid N800, 000 cash for Eterno Hotel, venue for the event, whereas, the management of the hotel gave it FREE to the chapel.
It will also be confronted with how instead of N15, 000 spent on snacks, the chapel claimed it spent N150,000; instead of N5, 000 to produce a TV jingle it claimed N60, 000, among others.
The former committee led by Hameed Braimah of Observer Chapel had ran into troubled water while investigating the action of a former secretary of the union, Mr Aliu Ozioruva Alemma who was later impeached and 8 others in sharing the sum of N5-million belonging to the union.
Without seeing the Edo state government voucher upon which the 9 claimed the money was paid to them as, “Friends of Oshiomhole” and ignoring vital evidence, the former committee’s recommendations fell short of congress expectations and so was dissolved.