Even though it is billed for Enugu in Enugu state tomorrow (Thursday), the battle ground for elections into the national executive council of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has shifted to Lagos, where the two candidates for the position of National President; Mr Tony Nwabunike and Mr Emenike Nwokeoji have relocated.
While Nwabunike is currently a member of the association’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Nwokeoji is the incumbent Vice President. They are both seen as loyal and longstanding members of the association.
Prior to becoming a member of the ANLCA BoT, Nwabunike had been chapter chairman (Apapa) and later National Secretary. He had also served as the pioneer member of the Governing Council of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN). His opponent; Nwokeoji, had also been chairman (Onne) and Zonal Coordinator; East of the association.
Insiders have described tomorrow’s elections as being between the incumbent and the opposition. They see Nwokeoji as enjoying the endorsement of his principal; the incumbent President; Prince Olayiwola Shittu, while Nwabunike is seen as been propped up by those who either have an axe to grind with the outgoing President or are not comfortable with his influence in the choice of his successor.
About 87 delegates from 17 chapters and three zones are expected to vote in Enugu tomorrow. A lot see a presumption on the part of Nwokeoji, who has practically assumed that Eastern votes are already in his kitty, having been chairman of an important chapter like Onne and having been Zonal coordinator of the Eastern Zone.
A member of the Nwabunike’s camp team told one of our correspondents that the assumption that the East if for Nwokeoji is deceptive. He claimed that Nwabunike already has 95 per cent of eastern votes. But a strong member of Nwokeoji’s team told our correspondent that, how can you say that a man who had been chapter chairman for eight years and Zonal Coordinator for eight and years and who the incumbent Vice President will have only five percent of the votes in his zone?’
While Nwokeoji’s campaign team say he parades about 40 years cognate experience in the industry and that having worked closely with President Olayiwola Shittu as the Vice President without rancor, he is the right candidate who will further improve and build on the legacies of Prince Olayiwola Shittu.
His opponents say the above may be his undoing. They accuse Shittu of wanting to install a ‘stooge’.
But anywhere they go, the two contestants hail the achievements of Prince Olayiwola Shittu, with a promise to build on it.
Nwabunike’s latest and perhaps greatest hurdle is the allegation that, if elected he will upturn ANLCA’s decision on the collection of Practitioners Operations Fees (POF). He is still battling to wriggle himself from the damage that this has done. He is also struggling to remind members of the association, especially the delegates, of his involvement in the POF brouhaha right from when he was chairman of the CRFFN.
While little was heard about the campaign of the duo in the East, a lot of hype is being given to the campaign in Lagos. For instance, last Friday was a carnival-like setting at the Murtala Mohammed Airport chapter when Nwabunike held a rally.
While he has been silent, it is believed that the incumbent President enjoys the respect and loyalty of many chapter and zonal executives. They were all elected under his tenure. He is believed to enjoy the cult-like respect of executives in Western zone.
He is respected for bequeathing a befitting national secretariat to the association; he has also raised awareness for the association. These are in addition to facilitating the renewal or issuance of new operational license to some members who hitherto had no license. These may help his supposedly preferred candidate.
However, pleading anonymity, a member of the association’s board of trustees who was contacted on the ambition of the two presidential candidates, told Shipping Position Daily recently that the race is wide open.
On the influence of the incumbent President, he said: ’I don’t want to lie to you by saying that the President doesn’t have a candidate, we know he does, but this does not mean he would win. The two of them are qualified, but I tell you the ultimate decision is that of ANLCA members who want a president who can carry the mantle from Shittu (incumbent President) and represent us well. I think our members should look for the candidate’s financial muscle, his carriage, his understanding of ANLCA politics and its publics and knowledge of our industry’’.
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