The National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Chief Tony Iju Nwabunike has said that contrary to the information within the public domain, the Chairmanship position of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the association is not the cause of the current crisis rocking the association rather it stems from the fact that some cartels within the association do not want him to become the President of the association.
Nwabunike who disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Lagos said that some people have formed a cartel to hijack the association because they thought he (Iju) was unbreakable adding that they wanted to put a stooge who they could manipulate to “cover up all their naughty things”.
He stated,” First of all, what is the function of the BoT? It is just an advisory role; I don’t know why it should be a problem all over the country. If for example they want to have a new Chairman, who am I to say no about it? But why they all believe I am still the solution to this problem is because I actually was a member of the Board and I told them if there is no hidden agenda in this thing that you people are doing, if you say Henry Njoku is ten years old and he needs to go, fine and good, Henry should leave. Then another school of thought is saying, Taiye Oyeniyi has done ten years too as Secretary, so, why should Taiye not leave, why should the two of them not leave? Two of them should leave, another set of two people should come and I will accept them, I will inaugurate them and I will even organize a party for them.
“I don’t believe that it is the BoT issue that is the cause of the matter, the issue is simple, somebody that they want to become the President became the President. It is not an Oodua thing because my Vice President is an Oodua member, my National Secretary is an Oodua, even my Treasurer is an Oodua, my Chief of Staff is an Oodua, so, it is not an Oodua issue. The issue is that some people have formed a cartel to hijack the association and because they think Tony Iju is unbreakable on decision.
“There is nothing like that and they are using some pressmen to do some dirty jobs which is not important here. What is important here is what is the way forward for our members, what are we going to do to make sure that ports are working, the gridlocks are tackled? What is government issue concerning trade facilitation, what is the import guideline saying? These are the things that we are supposed to be talking about but they are leaving all these things to talk about BoT that will elapse next February.
“So, what stop them from saying, Taiwo becomes the Chairman, then another Igbo man, the way they are saying, becomes the Secretary? If Taiwo and Elochukwu can be Chairman and Secretary, I will accept it. If for example that Taiwo and Ogbuagu will be Chairman and Secretary, I will accept it. If Henry says, no, I want to be Secretary now, and Taiwo becomes the Chairman, if they accept it, I will accept it. That will show you, it is not the problem of Board.
“So, why should they say, I have done election, I am not going to do again, five over three, two over eight. If you know it is five over three, keep that five over three intact, come and do it physically with us here. Was I there when they did the election? No! I did intervened and I told them please stop this. So, I am going to tell you, what they are saying, it is not just what they are saying, it is not what they are giving you that is the issue. The information is very clear, they don’t want me on this seat, some cartel don’t want me on this seat, they want to put a stooge, a situation where they can now manipulate the person to cover up all their naughty things. I am not ready to do that, I have future with my life, I have future with my family, I want to leave a simple legacy of transparency, no matter how you call me, I am not a failure in my life and I can never be”.
He went further to accuse the cartel of blaming him for agreeing with NAGAFF to have a wonderful CRFFN saying,” today, can you imagine, my Vice President is now the Chairman of Education Committee, look at his official vehicle, brand new car, do I drive brand new car now? He is going to go round all the institutions to educate the people purely on import guidelines and procedures, yet, they don’t want it to work, they don’t want CRFFN to live. So, they want everything to be stagnant and they are calling customs, they are calling other government agencies that they are not performing whereas you have not put your house in order”.
He continued, “They knew that I did not rig election; it was a very transparent election in as much as I won with three votes, that was a keenly contested election. So, why can’t you accept it in good faith? So, why all these BoT issue? Why would they conduct BoT election on the eve of my inauguration? What are they looking for? Okay, even if they say that election stands, what if I say, as a member of that Board as at that time, why don’t you see us do those things? If you have five over three and you are sure that five over three voted for you, keep the five intact, call for election again, let them come and do the election in the presence of all of us including the press. Five of them can still win against three if they are still sure of what they are saying, if it is not because they are looking for this seat. And let me be honest with you, I am not going to leave this seat for anybody. My four years will come and I can even contest for another four years. I think I have the capacity”.
The National President however assured that he was looking for peace but he shouldn’t be seen as a weakling because he was looking peace just as he added that no one can cajole him to it.
In his words, “But I am looking for peace but I shouldn’t be a weakling because I am looking for peace, they can’t cajole me to it, no!”
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1 Comment
Now that he is fully back on his seat I hope he will concentrate and have the problems clearly identified and tackled.He should name names as there should be no sacred cows.