The Chairperson of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Ogun State chapter, Sekinat Salam, has rejected her suspension by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state, describing the move as unconstitutional and a cover-up for alleged financial fraud engineered by the NUJ chairman, Comrade Wale Olanrewaju.
Salam declared: “My attention has been drawn to a decision by the executive council of the NUJ in Ogun State, led by Comrade Wale Olanrewaju, to suspend me as Chairperson of NAWOJ and my Financial Secretary, Comrade Charity James, over an allegation of financial misconduct.”
She explained that she had initially refrained from commenting, hoping “natural justice and common sense will prevail.” However, she said she was compelled to respond after reading “sponsored attacks and orchestrated image laundering by Comrade Wale Olanrewaju to malign my reputation just to score a cheap political point.”
“I am not the least perturbed because it is the way of a serial betrayer and schemer,” Salam stated. “My silence is not a sign of acquiescence or cowardice. It is because he is inconsequential, and he cannot be a judge in an act he stupendously masterminded.”
Salam described the suspension as “a grave constitutional aberration” and a deliberate attempt to mask Olanrewaju’s role in financial misconduct.
“It is not only constitutionally erroneous but ethically jaundiced for a principal actor whose conduct forms a material part of the issues under consideration to improperly assume the role of an aggrieved party, portraying himself as an innocent victim, while actively influencing and directing a State Congress to suspend the defendant,” she said.
She stressed that the NUJ chairman’s conduct violated the principles of fair hearing and natural justice, citing nemo judex in causa sua (no one shall be a judge in his own cause) and audi alteram partem (hear the other side).
For clarification, Salam insisted: “I never perpetrated any financial misconduct or misappropriation as falsely alleged by Comrade Olanrewaju. My ‘sin’ is that I vehemently refused to become a puppet in his hand that can be manipulated to suit his whims and caprices.”
She alleged that Olanrewaju was the architect of the opening of a special bank account to clear a ₦5 million cheque issued by the Ogun State Government to NAWOJ.
“He provided the CAC Registration of the Ogun NUJ to facilitate the opening of the account and even enlisted top civil servants to ensure the smooth process,” she revealed.
After the cheque was cleared, Salam said Olanrewaju demanded repayment of a loan he claimed to have given NAWOJ and insisted on a personal share of the funds.
“A sum of ₦345,000 was transferred to him as repayment of the loan he claimed to have lent to NAWOJ. He further demanded that he should be appreciated greatly for his efforts, and I gave him ₦100,000. Apparently disappointed, he rejected the sum and demanded more. After much pressure and threats, I added ₦50,000, and another ₦280,000 was transferred to him as compensation for the ‘Yeoman’s job’ he did,” Salam explained.
She noted that this occurred during the 2023 cash crunch, forcing her to source cash to meet his demands.
Salam emphasized that all financial records remain intact.
“It should also be known that it was from this ₦5 million that my exco organized programmes for NAWOJ members, while the balance of the money is currently in the account of the association. As a leader, financial records of all transactions are intact, and I am ready to tender them to the general public,” she said.
She added that NUJ officials, including Secretary Bunmi Adigun and Akeem Adegbenro, were aware of the transactions, and that members who traveled to Abuja for the NAWOJ national election benefited from the funds.
Salam declared emphatically: “Comrade Olanrewaju’s allegations lack any iota of truth. It was a ruse and concocted shenanigan to actualize his threats to ‘deal’ with me for daring his authority over Ogun NAWOJ’s purse.”
She warned that any attempt to suspend her without an impartial investigation was “an abuse of process” and would be “constitutionally unsustainable and liable to be set aside.”
“The attempt to secure punitive action by presenting a one-sided narrative is a deliberate subversion of due process and a direct threat to institutional integrity,” she added.
Salam reminded stakeholders that NAWOJ is an affiliated body with its own national leadership, not a chapel under NUJ’s command.
“If there is indeed a case of misconduct by the state executive of NAWOJ, the national leadership of the association has the prerogative to hear the matter and set up an investigation and disciplinary committee,” she stressed.
She urged the State Congress to halt actions based on what she described as a flawed process and recommit to constitutional compliance.
“Anything short of this would reduce the Congress to an instrument of injustice rather than a guardian of order and accountability. Justice must be anchored in law, not sentiment; in procedure, not manipulation,” Salam concluded.
