BoT Saga: Will Elders Allow Brewing Fresh Crisis in ANLCA?
By Francis Ugwoke
Late last year, the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) was in the news over efforts to settle its protracted crisis. The association had been in crisis for close to two years now. It started with the exit of the former President, Prince Olayiwola Shittu. That was when the first crisis started as the Board of ANLCA was said to have held an election in which a new Chairman in the name of Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha emerged. But Chief Henry Njoku had protested this claiming that Mustapha could not have emerged Chairman when his tenure was yet to end. He argued that his tenure was to end in February 2020 and insisted that the election was null and void. He was not alone as a board member, Chief Peter Obi had dragged the new board to court which later ruled in his favour. The crisis nearly tore the association into pieces particularly at a time when the National President, Iju Tony Nwabunke was contesting the last general election. The association remained in crisis until in November last year when Nwabunike made a successful move to settle the matter. That was when the National Executive Council meeting announced the lifting of the suspension placed on some members for anti-association behaviour. The decision was taken in December 2018 during a NEC meeting held in Abuja. Nwabunike had in November last year during the peace move said it was based on advice from elders. He told newsmen, “The need for us to forge ahead in peace and unity cannot be over emphasised. As a matter of fact, the operational challenges we are experiencing in our sea, airports and land borders are unprecedented, in fact overwhelming. I have never seen that in my over 30 years as a Customs Broker. So it is in our best interest to pursue the path of peace and unity to fight our common cause and possess our possessions.
“In the spirit of the reconciliation and total forgiveness, I want us to review some of the far reaching decisions taken at the NEC meeting of December 17, 2018 as they concern the suspension of some members of NECOM, chapter executives and committees”. With this the suspension on some members of the association particularly those of the Western ports was lifted.
The reconciliation came at a time that Chief Henry Njoku was getting ready to vacate office as his tenure was due to end February. When the crisis was on late 2018, he had insisted on not leaving until he had spent his tenure. Few months to the month of February, it was clear he was ready to leave, in what became a clear coast for Mustapha.
However, last week, stakeholders read about the ANLCA board getting a tenure extension of six years. This according to Mustapha was after regularizing ANLCA’s registration at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). It would be recalled that both Njoku and Mustapha had fought for the board chairmanship position with Njoku insisting he was not going to vacate office and never did. Similarly, Mustapha insisted he remained the Chairman forcing Peter Obi to head to the Court which later ruled that the former should stop parading himself as Chairman.
Last week, Mustapha briefed newsmen and announced his election as Board Chairman. He told newsmen, “I believe some of you are aware of the court judgement that was given to one of the board members, Peter Obi, when he sued me Taiwo Mustapha, that I couldn’t have been the board chairman, now the judgment came up and the judgement was against us that I should stop parading myself as the chairman”
“With that judgment, we felt that it was an indictment for us not to have made the move to register our names all this while, we went back to CAC and what we got there was really disdainful, we realized that since 2001, ANLCA has not been paying the annual dues, neither has the association made any annual returns to the corporate affairs, so we have been existing just in name as ANLCA but legally we were not there”
“So, it was on the basis of this that all the annual returns were paid by five of us from our personal pocket”
“We have held another election today and I have been returned as the Chairman of the board , Chief Dennis has been returned as the Vice Chairman and Prince Taiye Oyeniyi has been returned as the secretary of ANLCA board”
“In order to avoid any misgivings because anybody can say the tenure of the board should probably end on the 13th of this month, because that was when we held the election in 2014″
“Agreed the election supposed to end this year, because it’s a tenure of six years, but in the eyes of the law legally speaking and based on that court judgement that says we are not yet board members until we are registered in the corporate affairs, so as far as we are concerned, that tenure is just starting on the 16th of January for another six years”
“So we take it that on the 16th of January that is when we became the board members of ANLCA”.
The question that has remained in the lips of stakeholders is whether Mustapha and other members of the Board members followed due process in organising the election where they emerged. However, among those who did not attend the board meeting where he emerged the Chairman were Henry Njoku, Aare Sanni Shittu and Peter Obi. Mustapha said the three members boycotted the election. To observers, Mustapha and co. just made some assumptions followed by self judgment that returned them to the board. Whether this is within the template of the association’s constitution may not have been taken into consideration.
But few days after Mustapha’s board emerged, the NECOM of ANLCA issued a statement disowning the claim that a six year tenure extension had been granted. NECOM described the statement coming from Mustapha as a joke of the century.
National Secretary of the association, Mr. Babatunde Mukaila, in the statement made it clear that the tenure of the present board expired February 7, 2020 and that there would be no extension.
Mukaila said, “The first clarification is that by 1200hr of today, the tenure of the present board of trustee would expire. I want to also state it clearly that nobody gets into ANLCA board unless through an AGM called specifically for that purpose.
The last time such AGM was called happens to be at Warri in year 2014, this is the same AGM that returned the present board”
“However, whatever is their challenges over their inability to get themselves registered after their election, this should be an internal issue between them, this does not mean they are not our board”
“Close to 600 people who travelled by road to Warri, gave them that mandate to seat as the board of ANLCA, so nobody can sit inside an air-conditioning room and extend such tenure, it is a joke of the century and it cannot stand.
“The President will make categorical statement on Monday over the issue, he is out of town for now.
“If anyone is interested to seat as member of our board, announcement has been made by ASECO, all the president needs to do is to make a pronouncement on the date, time and venue of the AGM that would produce the next board.
“As from tomorrow, under section 30 of ANLCA Constitution, the President would use his emergency powers which states that where any issue arises which is not covered in the constitution, the BOT and NECOM can take decisions, but now the BOT is not there and the president would be taking some landmark decisions”
“It is going to be a joke of the century if a mandate given to them by over 600 people at an AGM and it is being upturned by five people, it is not going to stand”
“We did not stop them from holding the meeting because they are our board members, the secretary of the board prior to the meeting wrote a letter demanding that ANLCA President be present at the meeting but there was no agenda”
‘They only formulated an agenda after the president exited their meeting, they decided to come up with an election”
“By Monday (today), all their pictures would be taken away from the Secretariat.
In ANLCA’s Quote of Allegiance Section 31, nobody takes office unless they are formally sworn in by the president. They have opportunity of recontesting if they so wish”
Observers believe that except leaders of the association move fast in settling the issues at stake, the peace achieved so far in the association would be elusive. Mustapha needs to align with others in ensuring that the constitution of the association is followed in the organization of the board election. The elders need to intervene as fast as possible and not simply sit on the fence.
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