Chidi Ogbuokiri
The Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) executives have said that a new Board of Trustees (BoT) will be constituted on or before the end of December 2020.
National President of the association, Hon Iju Tony Nwabunike who disclosed this on Thursday in Lagos said that the new BoT members will be elected at the forthcoming ANLCA’s National Executive Committee (NECOM) Annual General Meeting (AGM). According to him, this is in fulfillment of the requirement of the Supreme Constitution of ANLCA as the tenure of the last Board expired on February 10, 2020.
ANLCA had nine members on the former board members, four of who have voluntarily sent in their valedictory letters on the expiration of their tenure 10 months ago, the other five were alleged to angling to perpetuate themselves in office, a development that was alleged to be responsible for the crisis rocking the association in recent times.
Decrying the crisis in a World Press Conference in Lagos, Hon Nwabunike said that ANLCA under his watch had stood its ground against the machinations of the aggrieved members of the association, who were bent on truncating the administration of the current NECOM.
He said that the aggrieved members were lost in the Enugu NECOM election had in their names and use of proxies instituted eight court actions against his administration but he has always sued for peace.
“However, since they have insisted that it is either they bring this NECOM down or nothing, even to the point of sending killers to our headquarters to kill, steal and destroy, we the NECOM have taken a firm decision that a enough is enough and we will not allow ourselves to be distracted again. We forge ahead to fulfill our mandate,” Hon Nwabunike stated.
He pointed out that ANLCA would have held its AGM long before now but for the Coronavirus pandemic and the recent EndSARS protest by Nigerian youth which stalled the process.”But we are not forging ahead,’ he said.
Nwabunike described as a child’s play Mustapha’s plan for tenure elongation through the back door, insisting that his reign and those of others has since ended.
He however said that if Mustapha and others were interested in continuing in office, they should be ready to contest like every other person.
According to him, Taiwo Mustapha, Taye Oyeniyi, Ernest Elochukwu, Dennis Okafor and Dayo Azeez are responsible for the numerous crisis of the association.
Nwabunike warned some former board members who have been working to create a crisis in the association that it will no longer be business as usual.
The ANLCA President alongside his Vice President, Dr. Kayode Farinto, Secretary, Alhaji Babatunde Mukaila Abdulazeez, vowed not to allow the former board members to continue to drag the association backward.
He accused Mustapha and others of working with some chapter chairmen in the Western zone to derail the efforts of the association.
The President described the purported election that brought in the chairmen as illegal, adding that once the NECOM meeting holds, there will be a new election in the zone.
Nwabunike also said that what has happened is that the board members have been giving false promises to the chapter chairmen that they will allow them to continue in office, adding that this was aimed at undermining the constitutional provisions of the association.
