Akogun renounces NUJ membership, cites constitutional violations

Multiple award-winning journalist, Dare Akogun, has renounced his membership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists over what he described as constitutional violations, lack of transparency and alleged victimisation of members who challenge irregularities within the union.

Akogun, in an open letter dated August 12, 2026, addressed to the National President and National Secretary of the NUJ, said his decision followed his suspension by the union’s National Executive Council over what the council described as “anti-Union activities.”

The journalist said he had decided to formally end his association with the union with immediate effect, insisting that the decision was taken “with a heavy heart but with a clear conscience.”

Akogun said the NEC’s August 11 communiqué, issued in Dutse, Jigawa State, accused some members, including him, of engaging in activities against the union without specifying the acts allegedly committed or giving him an opportunity to defend himself.

“The NEC failed, refused and/or neglected to specify the so-called ‘anti-Union activities,’ nor did they even constitute any committee nor any invitation extended to me or any form of message to my person,” he said.

He argued that the NEC could not demand adherence to the NUJ Constitution while allegedly disregarding the same provisions in dealing with members who raised concerns over the union’s electoral process.

Akogun said his involvement in legal action against the union was motivated by concerns over the conduct of its election, particularly the alleged printing of voters’ names on ballot papers in an election which, according to him, ought to have been conducted through secret ballot under the law and the NUJ Constitution.

“If my offence is the fact that I joined other concerned members to challenge in a court of law the fraudulent conduct of the Union’s electoral process, then the NEC should bury its head in shame,” he said.

He also questioned the treatment of members who challenged the alleged disqualification of financial members, saying a petition submitted to the national body was ignored despite provisions of the union’s constitution for internal dispute resolution.

“Is it an anti-Union activity to challenge the arbitrary disqualification of financial members, after a petition to this same National Body was ignored in clear violation of the Union’s own provision for internal resolution of disputes?” Akogun asked.

The journalist further alleged that members were being branded as enemies of the union for demanding accountability, warning that such an approach could undermine confidence in the organisation.

“If upholding the Constitution and demanding transparency is now a crime in the NUJ, then the real ‘anti-Union activities’ are being perpetrated by those who sit in NEC and subvert the same Constitution they swore to protect,” he said.

Akogun said the treatment of dissenting members had raised fundamental questions about the character and direction of the union, describing an organisation where members could not question alleged infractions without facing sanctions as fundamentally unhealthy.

“A union where members cannot question infractions without being branded enemies and suspended is not a union. It is a secret cult,” he said.

He also challenged the NUJ to benchmark its operations against other professional bodies, including the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and the International Press Institute, particularly in the areas of accountability, transparency, inclusion and institutional integrity.

Akogun said he was leaving the union because, in his assessment, it was no longer adding value to his professional life but had instead become a source of personal and professional strain.

“I am therefore renouncing my membership of a union that is no longer adding value to me, but is instead consuming my goodwill, my professionalism, my sweat, my conviction and my funds,” he said.

He subsequently directed the union to remove his name from its register of members with immediate effect, while stressing that his decision to leave the organisation would not affect his commitment to journalism.

“I will continue to practice journalism with integrity, but I will no longer do so under the cover of an institution that punishes members for demanding accountability,” Akogun said.