AFAN disowns Farouk faction calls for court action

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

The National Executive of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), led by Arc Kabir Ibrahim has disowned the Farouk Mudi faction, and has called for its prosecution.

For registering and operating  a parallel AFAN, an act which is said to be against the letters of the organisation’s constitution, and in its own merit, a clear illegality needs to be sanctioned,

The National President, AFAN, Arc Kabir Ibrahim said AFAN cannot be threatened by an illegal body registered in 2016 with the sole aim of ousting the authentic association, that for such a recalcitrant act, all those  involved should be made to face the full wrath of the law.

He stated that AFAN as a non-governmental organisation got registered and recognised at the national  level in 2003 during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, with branches and registered members in all the 774
local government areas in the country and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

According to Ibrahim, “the law does not allow Farouk Rabiu Mudi and his cohorts to parade themselves as AFAN leaders, in fact, in a normal setting, they are in breach of the law and should be prosecuted.”

He said that in a desperate quest for power, Farouk registered an illegal AFAN in Kano on the 22nd December, 2016 when he lost the chapter election to Alhaji Abdurrashid Magaji Rimingado, with himself, Garba Ahmed Bichi, Munzali Dayyabu Taura and three others as trustees.

Ibrahim maintained that the action of Farouk ran contrary to the decision of the authentic AFAN which appointed, Rear Admiral Murtala Nyako; Dr Shettima Mustafa; Chief Femi Coker; Sen. Abdullahi Adamu and Prince Ike Ubaka as Board of Trustees (BOT),  at the General Assembly of farmers, held in Kano between 11th and 15th September, 2011 at the New Library on Ahmadu Bello Way.

On the suit filed by the Farouk led faction, before Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court, praying to stop his (Ibrahim) Nation Working Committee(NWC) from parading themselves as executive members of AFAN, he said the matter is getting interesting as many frivolous claims are being bandied around.

“When the court eventually sits on this matter it will be very interesting to see what will come out of it as well as what Farouk and his cohorts will tell Nigerians after claiming earlier that they had a ruling when all they served us was the originating summons and their lawyer unprofessionally wrote a letter to our bank asking them to bar us access to our funds.

“Of course, the bank pointedly said to them that only a court could put a lien on the account.

“We reported the lawyer to the NBA and keenly await to see the NBA’s appropriate sanctions on him for his unprofessional conduct,” Ibrahim said.

The originating summon marked FHC/ABJ/CS/322/2020, listed Ibrahim, and his NWC as the first defendants, while the Inspector General of Police (IGP) is the second defendant in the case.

On the swearing -in of Farouk as Caretaker President of AFAN by Rear Adm. Murtala Nyako, and his subsequent appointment by the Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Alhaji Sabo Nanono as AFAN’s representative on the special COVID-19 Task Team, he said all that were done in error.

“Rear Admiral Murtala Nyako, the Chairman of AFAN Board of Trustees, erroneously listened to Farouk and his cohorts without the other BOT members in the living room of his house not knowing they were there to promote their own AFAN not his from above,” he said.

Muhammad  Nanono, Hon. Minister of Agriculture

He decried that appointment as this run contrary to the much touted ant-corruption and entrenchment of true democracy of the present administration.

Reacting, Farouk said he had not done anything wrong, and has not contravened any law by registering the AFAN Kano chapter with the Cooperate Affairs Commission(CAC), as most business  organisations like NACCIMA have state chambers that are separately registered.

Asserted that he was legally constituted by Rear Admiral Nyako, a trustee of AFAN and other state chairmen who were present at the inauguration ceremony.