Crisis seem to be looming among the membership of the Rivers State Council of Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union (RATTAWU) over the conduct of the 13th Triennial State delegate conference and election of State Executive Council members which was held at the premises of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Port Harcourt on Monday despite a court order of injunction restraining the conduct of the conference and election.
A cross section of members of the Union from the Rivers State Council for Arts and Culture chapter had filed a suit at the National Industrial Court holding at Owerri seeking an injunction to restrain the Transition Committee of the Union from holding the 13th triennial conference and election of the state council until the accounts of the union is audited and published, as well as when other substantive suits pending in court is determined.
It is gathered that in defiance to the court order which was served the transition committee and other candidates by the bailiff of the industrial court the union went ahead to conduct the election.
However, in reaction to the outcome of the election, one of the chairmanship candidate who was not cleared by the transition committee, comrade Adafe Jaja, insists those acclaimed elected are not recognized since there was an injunction restraining the conduct of the election.
Comrade Adafe Jaja, who is an Assistant Director in the Rivers State Council for Arts and Culture and a former state secretary of the union also wondered why he should not be cleared by the transition committee when he has all the pre-requisite to contest the Union election. In his words, “I was a candidate to that election, I have served to the level of State Secretary and when nobody can explain why I was not cleared to run for the state chairmanship then I cannot call it an election, if they ever had any one I don’t know”.
Continuing he said, “for me as a law abiding citizen and as somebody who always preaches peace I will leave the rest for the law court to determine because there are pending. Cases in the National industrial court at Owerri, so the court will determine that, we don’t recognize them until a properly constituted delegates conference takes place, we cannot accept them as state executive leaders,” he added. ###
