ANLCA Vice President accepts error on step taken, apologises

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

The Vice President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr Kayode Farinto has accepted error on the step he took to write to the World Customs Organisation (WCO) without his association’s mandate, as he has apologized.

Dr Kayode who tendered an unreserved apology to the ANLCA  President, Hon Iju Tony Nwabunike, the entire executive and members, said, human beings are bound to make mistakes from time to time.

He stated during a press conference at the ANLCA headquarters in Lagos on Wednesday, that there is no crisis in the body or between him and the president only that some people want to take advantage of the said letter to instigate crisis where there is non.

Farinto

Farinto stated, “I am not a proud person who will not say sorry when I am wrong. I have apologised to the President and the National Executive Committee (NECOM).

“The letter people have been talking about in the last few weeks written to WCO,  Ideally am supposed to inform the president of it, I have apologized  to him on that, We dont have a problem here, we are moving forward.”

Speaking, ANLCA President, Iju Tony Nwabunike appreciated  the Vice President for taking such bold step he has taken to apologise, saying he and the NECOM have accepted the apology in good fate.

“ANLCA is one big family, a mini-Nigeria, we have been around since 1954. Every part of the country is represented here, so it is not unexpected for us to have different perspectives, but it is necessary to harness all these perspectives for the benefit of the association.
“There is no leadership crisis in ANLCA. We are one family and we are moving forward, ” he stressed.

In a recent petition to WCO Secretary General dated August 3, 2020, Mr Farinto listed what he described as anti trade facilitation policies of the Nigerian Customs Service, he therefore  called for the removal from office of the Controller General  of Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) for gross incompetence.

The letter which put the association on a coalition course with the Nigeria Customs Service had earned Mr Farinto a query from the President.

In a query to Farinto by ANLCA dated August 23, 2020, he was asked to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him for writing a letter to WCO on behalf on ANLCA, without the authorisation of the President

Responding to the query, the ANLCA Vice President narrated that his action was in the overall interest of the association, that the position of the president may not be in the best interest of the members and the public.

This development informed observers prediction that the foremost Nigerian Customs Brokers body was set to implode.

But those expectations were put to rest on Wednesday afternoon, with the ANLCA President and Mr Farinto, the National Secretaty, Mukaila Azeez and other national officers at the press conference assured that the executive is in intact.

They further dismissed a report in the social media that members of the executive  have been sacked by a court judgement obtained from a Lagos  High Court on August 20, 2020.

According to Nwabunike, everything about the said court pronouncement are rumours as they were yet to be served any correspondent from the court.

Explaining, Nwabunike said that the two plaintiffs, being mentioned in the information concerning the judgment – Olumide Fakanlu and John Nwagbaraocha to the best of his knowledge are not eligible members, that their membership ceased since 2018.

Nwabunike said, “Since I became the president of this association,  I have not seen John Nwagbaraocha or Fakunle Olumide, paying thier annual subscription that makes them eligible to become members of this association.

“So, if that is true, I consider that court action null and void even before going to court.

“Somebody cannot just come from anywhere, and take an institution to court without being an eligible  member, as far as am concerned,  if this information turns to be true, two of them from my record,, financial record and membership record, they have ceased to be members of this association since 2018.”

He said when such summons or judgement is served on them, as law abiding association, they would definitely respond, that their team of lawyers are waiting  to respond, stressing that such distraction is never new to them.