This interview with Mr. Okey Nerus , the Chairman, NAGAFF Electoral Commission(NECOM) came up as a result of serial complaints by members of association, who are clamoring for registration and extension of election timetable. He told our correspondent; Roland Ekama what the NECOM is doing to ensure a successful election and also opened up on other issues.
What is it like since your appointment as the chairman of NAGAFF’s NECOM?
This interview with Mr. Okey Nerus , the Chairman, NAGAFF Electoral Commission(NECOM) came up as a result of serial complaints by members of association, who are clamoring for registration and extension of election timetable. He told our correspondent; Roland Ekama what the NECOM is doing to ensure a successful election and also opened up on other issues.
What is it like since your appointment as the chairman of NAGAFF’s NECOM?
On assumption of office, one of the best thing we did was at Annual General Meeting (AGM), when we came up with election time table, and with that we were very explicit and detailed about what needs to be put in place, within the time frame, even though there is the need to inform members about the process of election.
What is your reaction about the fact that some members claim that they are unaware of the coming election?
The truth is that there are bound to complaints here and there, but when someone says he is not aware of the fact that the association is holding an election in 2014, then the first question that will come to mind is to know if such persons are truly NAGAFF members or not, because I want to believe that when you talk about the AGM that was held in Abeokuta, Ogun State last year, there was a forum set aside for all members of NAGAFF to come together and discuss issues that concern the association. Now at that AGM we were very clear of one single fact, and that is that NAGAFF elections are scheduled to hold in 2014 and anyone who says he or she does not know about it must have limited knowledge of the truth or such person is only economical with their choice of words. The truth is that these people that are saying that they are not aware of the NAGAFF coming election are not members of the association and if they are, then they might be probably far from the association. If such people are members, the AGM happens to be an avenue where everything that has to do with the association were discussed in the opening; at the AGM we had the close-door session and the open door session where every members of NAGAFF including the committee and national officers gave account of their stewardship. For me, anybody that says he doesn’t know about the election then such person is either not a NAGAFF person or he is very far from us.
Does NECOM have any plan to extend the election date based on the yearnings of members?
It will interest you to note that the first thing that we did was to release the elections manuals to all chapter chairmen and they all armed with the manuals and after the AGM last year came the yuletide season which served a short break for us. But when we came back in January, the first thing we did was to meet with chapter chairmen which also serve as a follow up to the manuals distributed to them and we also felt that there was the need to fortify and modify the electoral guidelines. As a result, some of these complaints came up and one of the issues that were raised during that stage was the issue of contestant fee which of course you know that no election is free because. Contestants must always purchase their forms before the election proper and the modified electoral guidelines took care of some of the complaints, because we were able to get feedback from members. We are the electoral commission, we are to get feedback and when we come back , we collate all the feedback, sit down and then review the complaints and find a solution to it and that is exactly what we did and I must say that the electoral guidelines took absolute care of the complaints. Now, talking about extension or not; it will interest you to note that one of the issues that came out during our visitations to all the chapters for the purpose of sampling opinions, their feelings and views, was that we later concluded that as a commission that has listening hear, we will put all their request on the table and discuss about it dispassionately and at the end of the day we gave an extension. Before now we did say that registration of members ought to have ended by February 24th 2014, (last week) but we have extended the dates. Extension of membership registration for Apapa has been extended to 4th March, Tin Can Island Port will be on the 5th, PTML and Murtala Mohammed Airport port will be on the 6th, while Seme, Lilypond, & KLT holds on the 7th respectively and we did this for members who are yet to registered to do so and also to give them the opportunity to vote or be voted for and the essence of all this is to give them one week grace to tidy up their registrations.
As the head of NECOM, please tell us; how prepared is the team?
I must comment that we are very prepared because I have a capable team in place. I have a team that is proactive and they are willing to put in their best to ensure that NECOM succeeds. We know the task ahead of us, we also know the responsibilities of an electoral commission, and we know that it is not going to be easy for us, but I want you to take my words that we are fully prepared. If you say the election is tomorrow, I will tell you that we are ready for it.
How do you intend to cope with preparations for elections in other zones of the association?
We have been to the eastern zone and after all the elections in the western zone of the association; the eastern zone will be next. We have the eastern, western and northern zones of the association and as we speak the sensitization programme is afoot at the eastern zone. At a meeting held at the eastern zone, we discussed extensively with them about the elections and as we speak, the heat is on over there as well, we communicate with them on a daily basis to know what is happening over there. I can assure you that the eastern zone as well is prepared for the elections. From the east, we will then move to the northern zone of the association. It is a gradual thing, we are doing it one step at a time.
What was the outcome of the sensitization programme that was held in the western zone?
Apart from Idiroko and Ikorodu, we were able to cover every other chapter in the western zone of the association. The two chapters that we are unable to come as a result of some certain issues that emanated ,as soon as hose issued are resolved, we will visit there even with the little time left for us, we visited Lilypond, KLT, Apapa , Tin Can Island Port and Murtala Mohammed Airport etc.
The idea of members protesting about CRFFN registration as criteria to vote is a case that affects NECOM, what is your position on this
When people talk about CRFFN registration not being a criterion at the poll; first of all the first question that comes to mind is what is CRFFN to the freight forwarding profession; we all know that CRFFN is the regulatory body of freight forwarders and it is the same CRFFN that accredits all the associations. So there is no how you will hold an election without considering CRFFN and so anyone that is saying that we should shun the CRFFN registration is not knowledgeable enough about what the council represents in the freight forwarding business. Like I did say, we have also considered the fact that it won’t be very possible for us, because some of them will have to face the challenges about the CRFFN identity card between now and the day of election. So what we are saying is that you must provide evidence that you have started the process of registration with CRFFN and we are not saying that you must provide the identity card, but the process must be on. The CRFFN officials have been around at the NAGAFF headquarters for about a month now and we expect members to have commenced the registration process. When a member walks in here, the first thing we expect him to do is to pick the registration form and fill the form. That is what we are saying.
How would you describe the 2010 election viz a viz what to expect in 2014?
What it is now was not what was obtainable in 2010. Four years ago was our maiden election and between four years and now, NAGAFF has grown in strength, it has grown in number, grown in chapters, membership and there has been tremendous improvement about the growth of the association. We also expect that the tempo as at today may not be the same like four years ago. When you do any form of comparism , you will agree that it was our maiden elections, but what we want to achieve now is the fact that we want a seamless transition from one government to the other and in doing that, we also have to be very careful for us not to breach our constitution and that is why anybody that is asking us to shift the election probably have not studied our constitution and in achieving a seamless transition, the present crop of elected officers must handover at the end of March and by April new set of executive will take-over at the chapters. In doing so, we must also not breach the constitution of the association. When you factor all of these you will agree with me that NAGAFF of now and then has witnessed tremendous changes. NAGAFF is also a non-violate association that does not encourage violence and we expect everybody irrespective of position to play by the rules and we also frown seriously at our members who will go out there to cause any form of trouble in the cause of their electioneering campaign.
What are your expectations in the coming election?
We expect that the winners and losers in the election to see themselves as one big family, because that is what the association represents. We want them to see themselves as brothers, as a family that is united. We also expect those that want to ask questions to be free with NECOM, because the commission was set up to address all matters relating to elections. Our office is open and or telephone numbers are on everyday to address complaints that surround the elections. They should feel free to walk up to us for further clarifications and we don’t have anyone to be disenfranchised as long as such persons play by the rules and we are hammering on it, because it is very important to us
What are the challenges so far?
Some sitting chairmen are trying to take undue advantage to work against others by barring others from necessary information for the chapters and what we did to nip it in the bud was to decentralized such processes.
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