From all indications, the lingering crisis rocking the Board of Trustee (BoT) of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) may not end soon, as the embattled chairman of the board, Chief Henry Njoku, has vowed to remain on the seat till the end of his tenure in February 2020.
Njoku who said this in chat with Shipping Position Daily last week, however admitted that there were ongoing efforts by some persons to ensure that the crisis is amicably resolved, but he insisted that nothing short of serving his tenure to the end is acceptable.
He also denied that he was prepared to handover Alhaji Taiwo Mustpha as the BoT chairman for the sake of reconciliation and peace
“Anybody telling you that I have surrendered to the next person is a confused liar; you know our tenure will soon expire, so there is nothing until the expiration of the tenure. Officially, the tenure will expire by February 2020, but by September this year, I think we should start conducting elections for the BoT; that is the way it is. You know people there in Lagos, when they sit they will cook up a story like that, but it is all good” he concluded.
Meanwhile the Secretary to the BoT; Prince Taiye Oyeniyi has accused the incumbent President of the association; Mr Tony Iju Nwabunike of deliberately prolonging the crisis rocking the board.
Oyeniyi, in a separate chat with one of our correspondents, described the ANLCA president as “an arrogant man, who lacks respect for the constitutional”.
“The crisis was created by the president himself, I don't know whether you have been following what is happening , you know we have lot of cases in court because he created the problem for himself”, he alleged.
He also accused Njoku of staying longer than the constitutionally stipulated tenure, urging the association’s president to have listening ears as a leader.
“I have never seen where five is greater than 10, Njoku has been there for 10 to 11 years and we have removed him, election has been conducted over a year , and Iju(President) is backing him not to leave, so let him continue if that’s what he wans, no problem”
Oyeniyi however accused the president of supporting Njoku in the tussle against the BoT chairmanship.
“If God gives you an opportunity to lead an association, you must remain to be a leader, if you are a leader you lead to follow other people suggestions, if Iju was elected by the people why is he backing him in this fight, so he is the one that his creating problem for himself”
“Why are they looking for something they cannot get, myself and Henry did not join the association the same time, he has been there before me and has used up his tenure so why is he still there”
Affirming that there are moves to resolve the face-off, he said, the Igbo maritime forum is asking for what is not possible in the move to resolve the lingering crisis.
“Although it has not been confirmed yet,but I learnt that the Igbo maritime forum is saying that for the matter to resolved, this is what they want, and what they are asking for its not possible, how can a leader decide to leave the secretariat to Abuja for a jamboree meeting and suspended the Public Relation Officer, Treasurer, and didn’t recognize the five members of the board as against three and you think such a man will have peace”, he told our correspondent.
Perhaps, in the clearest indication that the crisis is far from being over, the ANLCA BoT Secretary insisted that the factional BoT Chair; Mustapha will not back out or step down for Njoku.
“Step down for whom? Which Henry? Irritating and disgusting statement from whoever has said that. And that is a timid lie from the pit of hell”, he concluded.
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