ANLCA Crisis: Lagos Airport Chapter Election Tear Tony Iju’s NECOM Apart

…ASECO Chairman Tenders Resignation

By DAPO OLAWUNI

There are indications that the Tony Iju Nwabunike led faction of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) have been embroiled in an internal wrangling over the conduct of Muritala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, even as the Chairman of the Association’s Electoral Committee (ASECO) Barr Raymond Oyinmba has tendered his resignation letter.

Barr Oyinmba in an exclusive chat with DAILY TREND NEWS disclosed that he was being pressured by some powers that be, in order to manipulate the votes in favour of one of the prefered candidates.

ANLCA National Secretary, Alhaji Babatunde Mukaila told our correspondent on Sunday that Barr Oyinmba was sacked for electoral fraud and for trying to smuggle-in about 68 names into the ANLCA register.

However, Barr Oyinmba debunked the report saying that, he was never sacked but that he resigned voluntarily due to undue pressure from some of the executives, including Alhaji Mukaila to rig the elections.

This is the fifth time the MM Chapter elections is hitting the brickwall and the association unable to conduct it peacefully.

Our correspondent gathered that there are two contenders for the position of Chairman of the Airport Chapter namely; Bola Ashiru, and one Mr. Adewusi who was a former Vice chairman of the chapter.

Sources within the association told our correspondent that the ANLCA President is solidly behind Bola Ashiru while his Vice President, Dr Kayode Farinto and the National Secretary, Alhaji Babatunde Mukaila are supporting the emergence of Adewusi.

In a chat with our correspondent, the outgone ASECO Chairman, Barr Oyinmba alleged that the seating National Secretary, Alhaji Babatunde Mukaila was trying to force 69 names out of the list of voters in order to favour a particular group.

Alhaji Mukaila was a former ASECO Chairman under President Olayiwola Shittu.

“I was not sacked, I resigned, when there is a conflict of interests between you and your superior, you don’t expect him to leave the place for you, you are supposed to leave the place for him. I exercised this and pulled out when I could not do what they are asking me”

“I wrote to the President on Thursday night that I won’t continue and the President accepted it, I was surprised the next day when they said that we have been dissolved”

“Being a lawyer, I know that you cannot sack ASECO, the President can only sack ASECO during a NEC meeting as a NEC Chairman, if he doesn’t do this, me myself I would challenge him, but there is no need for that now because I have resigned”

“I told them that I cannot accept the list given to me by the ANLCA Secretary, my ASECO committee have its own provisional list that we have published since 14th of July 2021 and I still stand by it”

“The National Secretary brought a different list entirely, part of the names we have verified with eagle eyes, and published, he carefully selected some of them belonging to a certain group and labelled them that they are not members of the association”

“These are members that have paid their statutory dues, these people have participated in Airport chapter election since 2015”

“Mukaila himself was a former ASECO Chairman during President Shittu and Opara tenure, nobody foister any list on him, so I wouldn’t accept it”

“Some of the ‘ogas’ in the association were asking me to accept the list from Mukaila but I refused, so they felt that I am becoming too powerful and stubborn, when I saw this, I offered to resign”

“I have documents to show that they are members of the chapter, the present Chairman of chapter gave us a register of the chapter, these names were also in the names handed over to us by Mukaila when he was leaving as ASECO Chairman” Barr Oyinmba stated

Also in a chat with DAILY TREND NEWS, National Secretary of ANLCA, Alhaji Babatunde Mukaila lamented that this was the 5th attempt by Barr Oyinmba at conducting the Lagos Airport chapter elections and it has failed again.

“This time around, everybody was involved to follow through with it, but the same thing still happened”

“Somebody was National Secretary when I was ASECO Chairman, the function of office is so distinct that there is nothing like interruption, under our constitution, the membership register of all ANLCA members resides in my office”

“When it became difficult for him to follow through and determine who is a member of association at MM Chapter, I had no choice that to come out and make a clear statement on who is a member of MM Chapter”

“He attempted to smuggle in about 68 companies licenses that are not registered with ANLCA, I made it bold for him to clarify it, but he was not able to, instead of that, he resulted to cheap blackmail”

:The NECOM is never divided against itself, the real issue is that the ASECO Chairman attempted to smuggle in 68 names and he could not prove their membership”

“In a short while, another Chairman of ASECO would be appointed, there must be a NEC meeting to determine this constitutionally. For now the MM election is on hold because there is no returning officer” Mukaila stated

Sources within the association who pleaded anonymity have however queried the long disappearance of ANLCA National President, Tony Iju from office.

Members lamented that since Tony Iju mother’s burial, he has abandoned the association and that critical decisions are being taken by his Vice President.

“It was Farinto that suspended the ASECO Chairman, saying that he was acting on behalf of the President.
Meanwhile, the President has refused to speak on all isssues since after his mother’s burial”

“Mukaila is not the only one that has a record in ANLCA, but the truth is that he doesn’t want anybody to succeed in that capacity as ASECO Chairman” one of them stated

Another chieftain of the association alleged that Barr Oyinmba and the entire executives of Tony Iju were acting illegally against the court order that have since sacked them.

“The registered board has sacked Barr Oyinmba about two years ago, Tony Iju and his executives that reappointed him have equally been sacked, the Federal High Court has asked them to stop parading themselves” he said