Sequel to insinuations in some quarters that the National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, Mr. Emenike Nwokeoji may have endorsed the Group of Nine Like Minds for the forthcoming Board of Trustees, BoT election of the association, the Senior Special Assistant, Media to ANLCA National President, Mr. Ayokunle Sulaiman has described the rumour as untrue and unsubstantiated.
Critics believed that the involvement of the Senior Special Assistant, Media to the President, Mr. Ayokunle Sulaiman, Senior Special Assistant, Special Duties to ANLCA National President, Mr. Joe Sanni, Bro. Chukwudi Ike and other close aides of the ANLCA National President in the campaign team of the Group of Nine Like Minds is a subtle sign of endorsement of the group by the National President.
While Bro. Chukwudi Ike is the Chairman of the 50 man Campaign Committee for the Group of Nine Like Minds, Messrs Ayokunle Sulaiman and Joe Sanni are to serve in the media subcommittee among others.
However, reacting to the development, Mr. Sulaiman maintained that it couldn’t have been possible for the National President whom he described as the father of all ANLCA members to be partisan in the coming BoT election arguing that the President, just as the entire members of the National Executive Committee, NECOM of the association cannot afford to take sides in the said election.
He insisted that just as anywhere else, the President is only entitled to one vote adding that whoever he (the President) would be voting for in the coming election is kept secretly in his heart.
“So the President cannot come out openly to say this is my candidate and this is not my candidate. Everybody belongs to the President. However, we will only vote in nine of those fourteen to become BoT elected members. The President has no hand in any G8 or B8 or like minds group, no! The President is the father of all”, he said.
On whether or not the presence of the close aides of the National President during the campaign flag off of the group of nine does not translate to endorsement by the President, he said, “This is deliberate. ANLCA is said to be One, Big, Happy family. Even in the press conference conducted by one of the contestants, some people were there in the pictures. If any candidate calls the attention of the President to grace his campaign flag off, if he’s available, there’s nothing bad in him attending.
“All of them can invite the President to their campaign flag off and if the President is free to attend, it does not mean he cannot attend but you will not see the President campaigning for any candidate.
“And for the people working for Mr. President that you mentioned, if there’s any of them campaigning for any of the contestants, it is not at the behest of the President, it is personal. No one will take permission or take a written permission from the President to go and campaign for any candidate. That will be entirely personal.
“People should not misinterpret it. You know why that cannot be traced to the President? I have told you earlier that it is on a personal ground. Even the Treasurer of the association was in the campaign team of one of the contestants, Alhaji Mukaila. Remember that the Treasurer is the custodian of the Finance of the association, she was physically present in a press conference to announce his candidacy. Can we now say that because she was there, she’s partisan and is liable for any punishment?
“Even on moral ground, they decided that they can align, be together as friends despite the fact that she’s a member of NECOM, that’s the Treasurer not to talk of SSA or any appointee for that matter. So, the President has no finger in all those things, it’s purely individual.”
He continued, “The President of ANLCA has every ANLCA member as his subject and democracy allows you to have opinion when it comes to issues of choice. If they are elected, they might be under obligation to attend but if they are appointed, they are not under any constitutional obligation to attend those ones.
“What is happening among the presidential aides is a matter of individual choices. The appointed individuals can decide to pitch their tent with any of the contestants but once you are elected, you might not have individual opinion over every other person. You might have to attend to every of their invitation.
“But as far as this BoT election is concerned, the president is as neutral as anything else. The same is applicable to every member of NECOM as far as I know. Individuals that are appointed can decide who to support but not the NECOM.”
Photo: Mr. Ayokunle Sulaiman, SSA Media to ANLCA National President.
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