The Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents ANLCA said on Thursday that the current national executives have been dragged to court a report eight times by aggrieved Board of Trustees (BOT) and members in the last two and half years.
The association executives have also reiterated their commitment to ensure that a new board is constituted on or before the end of December 2020, even as it has assured that the NECOM Annual General Meeting would hold in two weeks , during which a new board members will be elected.
Recall that the tenure of the former Board expired February 10th 2020; ANLCA had nine former board members, four of who have voluntarily decided not to continue in office, while five others have been alleged to be responsible for the crisis rocking the association.
L-R: Secretary of ANLCA, Alhaji Babatunde Mukaila Abdulazeez, President of ANLCA, Tony Nwabunike and Vice President, Kayode Collins Farinto during the world press briefing in Lagos on Thursday
National President of ANLCA, Tony Iju Nwabunike who disclosed this at a world press conference in Lagos, reiterated that the association under his watch stood its ground against resistance from aggrieved members of the association, lamenting that several litigations affected the performance of the current executives.
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 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.
Nwabunike said that from every record and constitution, the six years tenure of the board under which Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha served has since ended in February this year.
Secretary of ANLCA, Alhaji Babatunde Mukaila Abdulazeez, (L) President of ANLCA, Tony Nwabunike during the world press briefing in Lagos on Thursday
He pointed out that ANLCA would have held its AGM long before now but for the Coronavirus pandemic and the recent Endsar protest by Nigerian youth stalled the process.
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.
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 election that brought 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.
On his part, Secretary of the association, while highlighting the eight litigations mentioned the like of Olumide Fakanlu,Taiwo Mustapha ,Peter Obi among some of the litigants .
Mukaila maintained that the ANLCA constitution does not allow the BOT to act as Secretary of the association , adding that the constitution is clear in that regards.
