Delta NUJ Election: Ubus Calls for Issue-Based Campaigns Ahead of October 15 Poll.

By Henry Ubus.

Ahead of the October 15, 2026 Delta State Council election of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Secretary of the NUJ Ughelli Correspondents’ Chapel, Comrade Henry Ubus, has appealed to Journalists across the state to embrace decency, unity, restraint and issue-based campaigns throughout the electoral process.

Ubus in a statement on the forthcoming election, urged journalists and supporters of the various candidates to conduct their campaigns with maturity, decorum and a deep sense of professional responsibility, warning against campaigns of calumny, character assassination, witch-hunting and deliberate attempts to cast aspersions on the integrity, competence or personality of fellow journalists.

He acknowledged the right of every journalist to support, canvass and campaign for a preferred candidate, but stressed that such support should not degenerate into personal attacks or actions capable of further dividing members of the Union.

According to him, Journalists as members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm, should distinguish themselves from the often acrimonious and divisive style associated with partisan politics.

He noted that the NUJ remained the professional home of all journalists, irrespective of their electoral preferences, stressing that whoever emerges victorious at the end of the October 15 election would require the cooperation and goodwill of all members to succeed.

Ubus said Journalists were already familiar with the various candidates, their antecedents and contributions to the Union, adding that members were sufficiently informed and experienced to assess their records, character, vision and capacity to lead.

He therefore urged candidates and their supporters to focus their campaigns on ideas, programmes, vision and concrete plans for improving the welfare of journalists and strengthening the Union.

“There is no justification for unnecessary bitterness, personal attacks, name-calling or politics of witch-hunting. Elections will come and go, but our professional relationships, friendships, brotherhood and collective responsibilities to the journalism profession will remain,” he said.

The NUJ Ughelli Correspondents’ Chapel secretary further appealed to journalists to remember that disagreements over candidates should not translate into permanent divisions among colleagues.

He said members could disagree without becoming enemies and compete without destroying one another, noting that the outcome of the October 15 election should ultimately strengthen rather than weaken the Union.

“There is life after politics and, more importantly, there is life after elections. Whoever emerges victorious will need the support, cooperation and goodwill of everyone to succeed. The winner will not be the Chairman of one camp; he will become a leader for the entire Union,” Ubus stated.

He called on all stakeholders to avoid utterances and actions capable of unnecessarily heating up the polity, stressing that the election should be viewed as an opportunity to deepen unity, accountability and progressive leadership within the Delta State Council of the NUJ.

Ubus urged journalists to campaign with facts, compete with dignity, vote according to their conscience and accept the outcome of the election with maturity.

He said the Delta NUJ election should be “a contest of ideas and leadership, not a battle of personalities; a competition for service, not a war against one another.”

He called on all stakeholders to approach the October 15, 2026 election as colleagues and professionals, stressing that regardless of the outcome, all journalists would remain members of the same professional family.

“Let us compete as colleagues, campaign as professionals, respect one another as brothers and sisters, and emerge from the election as one united Delta NUJ,” Ubus said.