Oluyinka Onigbinde
The acting National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA);Dr. Kayode Farinto has declared that only those licensed or are directors of companies licensed by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) are qualified to attend the 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association.
The Acting President of ANLCA made this known at a news conference in Lagos on Monday.
He added that the attendees must also be cleared by the national secretary of the association to participate in the meeting slated for 15th of March 2023.
Farinto, while briefing newsmen on Monday, explained that for any member to attend the ANLCA AGM, he said such a member must have a license or be a director of a company licensed by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and a corporate member of ANLCA and must have also paid a token of N10,000 being 2023 annual dues.
The acting president informed that over 200 of its members have so far registered for the process of verification and going through the normal authentication of any license presented and the position of the company.
Farinto urged genuine license members of the association to get themselves cleared by the association at least 72 hours before the day of the AGM, while adding that any licensed owners collated outside the office of the association’s National Secretary will not be allowed to participate in the association ‘s AGM.
He explained that: “To comply with the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) letter addressed to me on Feb. 10, the national secretariat of ANLCA kick-started the process of organising the AGM as contained in the ANLCA Supreme Constitution.
“This time around, the National Executive Committee (NECOM), in its magnimity, reduced the processes due to the current economic situation in the country and in a bid to carry everybody along.
“For you to attend the 2023 AGM and any ANLCA AGM, you most have a licence or be a director of a company licensed by the NCS or a corporate member of ANLCA.
“A token of N10,000 being the 2023 annual due should be paid, while every other due and condition were waived. This was agreed to make sure nobody is left out,” he said.
Speaking further, he said “It is no longer news that the great ANLCA you used to know in the past four years has been in crises and all efforts to resolve the crises have not yielded any fruitful result yet.
“It was based on the inability of both the courts and Police to successfully resolve the ANLCA crises that the CRFFN was brought in. Mind you, it was not me, Dr Kayode Farinto Collins nor the NECOM that brought in the Council. Rather as I learnt, it was the two BOT heads, Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha and Prince Ozo Chukwura, who approached the Council in 2022 to step in to resolve the ANLCA crises based on their Act which provides such intervention.
“I want to also state it clear here that even though some of us from ANLCA are members of the Governing Council of the CRFFN, we were never part of the Committee set up by the Council to resolve the ANLCA crises, neither did we influence their report at any time or induced the Council Chairman to turn the committee report in our favour as being speculated by some mischief makers.
“Again, we are even more at disadvantage because out of our nine duly elected board members, only four will be taken; but for the purpose of peace and for ANLCA to move forward, we have appealed to the remaining five BOT members to abide by the Council’s decision for peace to reign.
Speaking on the coming election of the association, Farinto said that everybody is free to contest. “I know you are all aware that the tenure of this NECOM expires on 16th April 2023 as given to us by the amended 2020 ANLCA Constitution at the Owerri AGM. I want to tell you emphatically, that this NECOM will not stay one extra day in office.
“As such, the process of conducting the 2023 NECOM Election will be part of the decisions taken at the 2023 AGM. For your information and in accordance with ANLCA Supreme Constitution, within 90 days to the expiration of any NECOM tenure, elections must be held to bring in new leaders and the 90 days stated counting from February.
“I want to state again here that the NECOM Election is free to be contested by any member of ANLCA to the various positions as far as you are cleared by the Association Electoral Commission (ASECO). Nobody can stop you ,if you are qualified and I employ members to dust their documents to contest in any positions of their choice, whenever the ASECO starts the election process,” the ANLCA acting National President added
Kindly like us on Facebook
