ANCLA vows to end crisis, conduct BoT election

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

The leadership of the foremost Customs agents in Nigerian, the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has said it would no longer keep quite in the face of calculated attempts by some disgruntled elements to be a clog in the wheels of progress of the association.

To this end, It has restated its readiness to give soft landing to aggrieved members of the association who are ready to join hands to take the association to greater heights and invoke the full weight of the law on those who are unrepentant  as a way of finding lasting solutions to the perennial crisis rocking the group.

Nwabunike

Hon. Tony Iju Nwabunike, the National President of ANLCA stated this while answering questions from journalists during a press conference at the association’s national secretariat which was also addressed by the National Vice President, Prince Kayode Farinto and National Secretary,Alhaji Mukaila Azeez.

The president stated that, from the inception of his administration on the 13 April 2018, there has been an undying subterranean moves to weep up sentiments and scuttle his administration.

“There are plans to destabilise this National Executive Committee( (NECOM) from the day one, and that is what they set to achieve, but by the special grace of God, we have refused to succumb.”

The association he further stated has resolved  to conduct a new election into the Board of Trustees (BoT) of ANLCA, saying the tenure of the present board has since ended.

The Iju Nwabunike led NECOM has made a passionate appeal to the self acclaimed BoT coordinator, Mustapha Abdulasis to obtain a new form and contest along with the other aspirants if he is still interested in being in the ANLCA board.

The leadership  according to the trio the leadership will create enabling environment that could help him  emerges the BOT chairman if he succeeds to wins the board election.

“Mustapha and three other who are qualified to contest should go and contest with others who obtained their forms and the NECOM will make sure that Mustapha becomes chairman if he wins.

On why the association  cancelled the western zone election, they said that the board erred by unilaterally nominating and ratifying members of the Association’s Electoral Committee (ASECO)

The leaders said that the board members were supposed to nominate ASECO members and be ratified by the National Executive Council but added that this case was not so.

“In ANLCA, the electoral umpire is always ASECO, the board of trustees will nominate ASECO, and the president will call a NEC meeting where it will be ratified

“We have an existing ASECO which has been on ground, so much that what they have done smartly is to bring two people who do not have licence and appoint then as ASECO members ratify it themselves and conduct illegal election and the president will never allow that election to stand.

“We have existing ASECO which has been ratified by the NEC which comprises all the chapter chairmen.

“For you to be a member of ANLCA, you must have a corporate licence. For instance, at Airport chapter, eighteen persons obtained forms and you conducted election for only one person and you want the election to stand? It is a common sensical thing.

On the crisis rocking the Association, the leaders believe that the problem has its roots from the immediate past President, Prince Olayiwola Shittu.

According to them, the people festering the crisis are the ones that have their roots in the former president.

“I don’t want to say it blanket, but there are elders in the Association. I remember Eloka Okocha called for a peace meeting.

“In that meeting, he advised us that it is not too good for ANLCA and everybody promised to adjust.

“Let me say this for a record, I want to say this without any ambiguity that the role of Olayiwola Shittu in the whole crisis is not too good because he will tell you he sees no evil and touches no evil but if you look at the actors on the other side, it is either you find that his PA is involved or his former staff is involved.

“We want to believe that he knows about this problem because if he doesn’t know about the problem, he should be able to call these people to order