…Says Njoku led Board to conduct Western Zone elections
…Dismisses Joe Sanni’s position on Western Zone elections
The National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Chief Tony Iju Nwabunike has finally declared his support for the Chief Henry Njoku faction of the association’s Board of Trustees (BoT).
It will be recalled that following the emergence of Chief Tony Iju Nwabunike as the National President of ANLCA on the 8th of March, 2018, leadership crisis engulfed the Board of Trustees of the association following the outcome of an election purportedly held by BoT members on the 13th of April, 2018 which saw both Chief Henry Njoku and Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha laying claim to the Chairmanship position of the Board.
Speaking to newsmen in Lagos on Wednesday on which of the factions to supervise the coming Western Zone elections of the association, Nwabunike who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Barr. Charles Iwuchukwu, said that Chief Henry Njoku’s faction was the one to supervise the elections.
He noted that Njoku was elected unanimously by his colleagues for a term of six years adding that he was in his fifth year; as such it would be wrong for anybody to think of a change of baton midway into his six year term.
He however urged ANLCA members to disregard allegations raised in an earlier statement issued by the association’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Joe Sanni to the effect that the elections in the Western Zone of the association may not hold as scheduled on 10th of December, 2018 even as he said that the Association Electoral Committee (ASECO) was yet to fix a date for the election.
He disclosed that ANLCA was set to hold elections into six chapters in its western zone namely; Apapa Port, Seme border, KLT, PTML and Muritala Muhammed Airport chapters all in Lagos.
The National President informed that the National Executive Committee (NEC) which is the highest decision making organ of the association was set to hold its meeting in Abuja on the 17th December, 2018 after which a tentative date for the elections would be announced.
He therefore assured that notwithstanding the crisis within the Board of Trustees of the association, the election would be free and fair.
He further added that a tentative list of voters for verifications and list of contestants would be published after the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting scheduled to hold in Abuja on 17th of December, 2018.
Joe Sanni had in a press statement sent to our correspondent at the weekend alleged that the current crisis among the ANLCA BOT has cast doubts on the possibility of holding the already scheduled Western Zone chapter elections.
He lamented that since the executives led by Tony Iju came onboard; they have been embroiled in internal crisis while each faction keeps trying to undo the other.
He pointed out that many operational issues cannot be successfully tackled by NECOM because of the non-cohesiveness of the team.
But speaking on the allegations, the ANLCA President said, “The challenges in ANLCA were the ones we inherited, this administration has just been here for eight months and we are tackling every issue. But you know that in every twelve there must be a Judas.
“Joe Sanni went all out to make a public statement in order to create disaffection, sow the seed of discord and whip up ethnic sentiments in an effort to draw us backwards. Severally, he has decided to be the mouthpiece of the Nigeria Customs instead of ANLCA.
“Most of the points he raised, he never brought them up before NECOM, he never did any internal memo to lay out the challenges for us to decide what to do, rather, he went out to make public statement without due authorization”.
He assured that “In the coming elections, definitely, the due process would be followed. Because of the pressure, ASECO has published the list of candidates for the election, but there was a lot of mistakes there because of the pressure. The candidates have to be screened and get the necessary clearance from appropriate quarters before there name will be published.
“As of this moment, ASECO has not announced any date for the election. They must get approval from the NECOM because they have a supervisory role to play. Definitely the election is going to be free and fair, and whoever wins would be sworn in”, he said
Meanwhile, Joe Sanni in an earlier statement condemned the fact that both Chief Henry Njokwu and Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha factions of the BOT were currently midwifing the processes leading to the election.
He said Tony Iju Nwabunike has made several attempts at resolving the imbroglio in the BOT but, his efforts were not good enough.
“It is the general belief that untying those avowed arrangements may be an uphill task for Iju Tony Nwabunike, especially appealing to Chief Henry Njoku to honorably relinquish the position of Chairman of BOT, while he remains a member of BOT till February 2020, when the BOT tenure expires.
“Until the election of the National President of ANLCA into the Federal Parliament, Chief Henry Njoku should respect his colleagues’ wishes to have another one of their own, as Chairman of BOT”, Sanni said.
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