The incumbent Chairman, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Apapa Chapter, Dr. Fred Ajuzie has been re-elected as the Chairman, NAGAFF Apapa Chapter in a cleanly contested election held at the NAGAFF headquarters in Lagos, Monday.
Announcing the result of the poll, the NAGAFF Electoral Commission (NECOM) Chairman, Okey Nerus said that Dr. Fred Ajuzie Polled a total of two hundred and ninety (290) votes to beat his only opponent in the election, Arthur Igwilo who polled a total of fifty-two (52) votes.
According to him,” of the three hundred and fifty-seven (357) votes cast, we have fifteen (15) void votes, while Forwarder Arthur Igwilo polled a total of fifty-two (52) votes and Dr. Fred Ajuzie polled a total of two hundred and ninety votes”.
Dr. Fred Ajuzie having scored the highest number of lawful votes cast here today, I, Forwarder Okey Nerus, the NECOM Chairman, hereby declare Dr. Fred Ajuzie as duly elected chairman of NAGAFF Apapa Chapter and is hereby returned”.
The election also saw fifteen (15) others contested for various positions in the chapter out of which eleven (11) candidates were elected to superintend over the affairs of the chapter in the next four years.
Apart from the posts of the Inspectorate and Intelligence Officer, Welfare Officer, Publicity Officer, Financial Secretary, Assistant Secretary, and that of the Secretary who were returned unopposed, every other position was contested for in the election that can best be described as peaceful.
Those elected to oversee the affairs of NAGAFF Apapa chapter alongside Dr. Fred Ajuzie were; Eze Uchendu who polled a total of two hundred and ninety-four (294) votes to beat his rival, Uzubude Peter Paul to emerge the Vice Chairman, Chris Anazo as the Secretary, Tony Anene as the Assistant Secretary and Mr. Hyacinth Okeke as the Secretary.
Others are David .C. Ikeji as Financial Secretary, Barth Okeke as the Publicity Secretary, Nwekeikwu Joseph as the Welfare Officer, Chiedozie Obi as customs Agents Relations Officer, Nweke Ugochukwu as the Inspectorate and Intelligence Officer and Engr. Umeadi Emmanuel Azubuike as Ethics, Complaints and Discipline Officer.
In his post election speech, the NECOM Chairman, Okey Nerus described the election as a family affair stating that there were no victor and no vanquished in the election.
While congratulating those that came out successful in the election, he reminded those that lost in the election of the need to keep hope alive as the election marked the beginning of the good things to come noting that if they didn’t win today, they would win tomorrow.
According to him,” like we always say in NAGAFF, it is a family thing that we always do here. In anything that we do here, there are no victor, there are no vanquished. For those who have made it successfully today in this election, we say congratulations to you, for those who didn’t scale through, we say, congratulations to you”.
“This is just the beginning of the good things to come. If you didn’t win today, you live to win some other day and to that we say congratulations to each and everyone of us here. Each and everyone of us here are all winners in our own categories”, Nerus said.
He however disclosed that Dr. Ajuzie and all the elected officials of the Chapter would be issued their Certificates of Return on a yet to be announced date.
Speaking to the Press shortly after his declaration as the elected Chairman, Dr. Fred Ajuzie attributed his victory to hard work and appreciated members of NECOM for a job well done.
Ajuzie promised to bring in new innovations in the chapter to bear in his second tenure describing the first tenure as a learning process which era was gone.
He disclosed that with his emergence as the Chairman of the chapter, NAGAFF in Apapa would migrate from the analog means of doing business to a digitized means of transacting business especially now that the would is going electronic.
He pledged to integrate those that contested with him in the election and lost in order to make them an integral part of the march towards a greater NAGAFF.
“I am going to integrate them into the system with what make me thick so that they will learn a lot of things in NAGAFF”, Ajuzie stated.
Also speaking, the new Inspectorate and Intelligence Officer, Ugochukwu Nweke expressed joy over his election and promised to work hard in his new position in order not to disappoint those that elected him into the office.
Nweke disclosed that the agony his members go through in the ports in the course of carrying out their legitimate businesses was what prompted him to vie for the position so as to bring about the desired change even as he promised that with his election into the office, people should expect to see changes.
“My message to them is that things will change. I wish everybody well. I believe that as time goes on, they will come to realize that they didn’t make mistake voting me in”, Nweke assured.
