Alhaji Abdulazeez Babatunde Mukaila is the current chairman of Association Electoral Commission (ASECO) of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Custom Agents (ANLCA) and he equally doubles as the chief Executive Officer of Mickey Excellency Nigeria limited, a licensed customs brokerage company, he is equally the chairman of ANLCA’s biometric identification project, in this interview with Dapo Olawuni, he explained how the associations coming elections will look like and the challenges of the responsibilities that ANLCA has fostered on him.
Alhaji Abdulazeez Babatunde Mukaila is the current chairman of Association Electoral Commission (ASECO) of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Custom Agents (ANLCA) and he equally doubles as the chief Executive Officer of Mickey Excellency Nigeria limited, a licensed customs brokerage company, he is equally the chairman of ANLCA’s biometric identification project, in this interview with Dapo Olawuni, he explained how the associations coming elections will look like and the challenges of the responsibilities that ANLCA has fostered on him.
What is the position of ASECO in the constitution of ANLCA?
ASECO as the name connotes is – Association Electoral Commission and it is saddled with the responsibility of conducting elections as at when due in line with the provision of our supreme constitution, so basically the job of ASECO is to conduct elections into all executive offices nationwide and this is the primary assignment of ASECO within the constitution of ANLCA.
When did you assume this position?
My immediate predecessor is the current national president of the association; Prince Olayiwola Shittu, I took over from him precisely about two years and four months now, immediately I took over from him, I conducted the election that ushered him in as the national president, so it has been two and half years that I have been the ASECO chairman and it’s still running.
What were the challenges on ground when you took over?
The challenges were many because Prince Shittu’s achievement as the chairman of ASECO then was quite challenging and overwhelming, but I took that in its stride and apart from this, it is just the way our people see procedural change, people still believe that it doesn’t matter and that they don’t really need to follow the procedure, they believe if you are not qualified you can always bribe your way out, this has been a challenge, but glory be to God that I have had a very good relationship and privileges of being a man of myself and of course, the powers that be in the association, from the chairman board of trustees down have given me a free hand to conduct free and fair elections. Basically the challenges are not something that is insurmountable; so far so good it has been well with the committee under my watch.
Has there been any form of threat to you over elections since you took over?
Like I said, the privilege that I enjoy that has made my job so easy is that there is no encroachment, there is no influence whatsoever from anybody to tell me to do what is not right, so I have been a man of myself and I have been delivering free and fair election all along. But I couldn’t have been able to do this because the constitutional provision that enabled ASECO, gave the power of appointment to the board of trustees, so it is the board that appoints ASECO committee and I believe by the normal saying that; “he who pays the piper dictates the tune”, but this has not happened in ASECO, I have been given a free hand to take the association to the next level and to make sure that we deliver justice and free and fair elections. So I hold my success to being steadfast and importantly to the honorable men who have made ASECO to be independent as it should be, ranging from the national president to the chairman board of trustees, Chief Henry Njoku, I have enjoyed their cooperation and I still plead and hope that it will continue.
What will you regard as your major achievement since you took over?
My first major achievement is conducting the national elections that brought in the present executive council of which Price Olayiwola Shittu happens to be the arrow head, this happened in Owerri around April 19 2009, that has been the first major achievement because people believed that it was not possible, but we were able to do it. Another remarkable achievement is the recently- conducted election in the eastern zone, we just concluded elections for all the eastern zones in December 8, 2011, all along we had successfully conducted elections into the Abuja airport chapter, the most recent should be the election we conducted into the Calabar chapter, so it has been a success story because we have been steadfast and we have been very transparent and we have been carrying everybody along, it is an open policy, the rules of the game are laid bare, everybody understands it, so there is no hidden agenda or sentiments, the achievements can speak for us.
When are we expecting the next election into the western zones?
We are looking at the elections to happen anytime from September to December, the constitutional provision in ASECO guidelines states that election will be conducted within 90 days of tenure expiration of the sitting executives, so the date is the prerogative of ASECO, most of the chapters in the western zone, their tenure will expire by December, so it means that between September to December elections must be conducted within the 90 days, so between this time, we shall have the elections excluding the one for Apapa, Apapa ports elections was conducted in January 2010, so their elections will be conducted in January or it could as well be conducted within that space of 90 days, meanwhile the aspirants must wait for the 90 days gap before flagging- off their campaigns.
What is the place of biometric identification card in the coming elections?
As we know that elections into the chapter executives is by corporate membership, it is the company itself that is a corporate member of ANLCA and these members being cooperate companies can employ staff, so the election is going to be one corporate company and one vote in the whole western region, so simply put, my company as Mickey Excellency Nigeria Limited as a licensed agent will need to decide which of the chapters that I want to belong to and once I cast my vote at that chapter, I have automatically utilized my slot. So coming back to your question, the biometric has made us to know which are the current company that are our members, it goes a long way to resolve the issue of verification logjam that characterizes issues of delay, complain and violence, with the rounding up of the biometric exercise, once you present your biometric card, all I do at that point is to verify your card if you actually belong to ANLCA, we have perfected the format online, that is how to confirm your data, once I slot your card through the POS machine, your data, your fingers, your face will be shown and this enables me to verify you and this goes a long way to solve the documentation checks at the venue of election, with your identification cards on, all I do is to slot it in, compare the face, your signature and your fingerprints, and if the card is not genuine at that point it will be rejected, once your card goes through the issue of verification which is being done presently, if you are not current you are not going to be issued biometric card, ones you are carrying our ID card, it then means that your license is current and you are a member of the company you claim to be, it is the managing directors of the companies that authorize ANLCA to process biometric cards for their staff, and once you come forward with that identification card with a letter of authorization allowing you to cast votes on behalf of that company at a particular chapter, then my job becomes very easy and this is going to save a lot of time at the venue of election. So the place of biometric card cannot be over emphasized, it is going to be a determining factor in this election.
If I had voted in Tin Can, how will you detect if I am voting again in Apapa?
At the point of your voting, you must have shown your interest through a letter addressed to the chairman of ASECO, this is the letter of authorization to vote, and once that letter is received we are going to vet it, publicize it more than three times before the final voting list is out, so at the point of voting, the company that is qualified to vote is already known, the only thing not known is the person that will come forth and this is the only check we are going to do at that point, and once you vote for company ‘A’, that same company cannot be listed in another chapter at that time, there can’t be double company name at the venue of election, so the issue of double voting cannot arise.
What measures have you put in place to ensure that there is no rigging?
We are on top of the situation and all activities that need to be done by humans have been zeroed down, all human elements or error is going to be very minimal, I want to rely more on the biometric ID card usage in the electoral processes, it is a good idea and this is the first time it’s going to be used for ANLCA elections. With this, I believe the issue of rigging will be narrowed down. As I said, our achievements speak volumes, all we need to do is to be open, it is going to be a participatory process, if you are a contestant or aspirant and you felt somebody somewhere does not have what he claims to have, our constitution gives you the permission to write ASECO on what you think is phony, it is a laid -down procedure, all you have to do as an aspirant is to notify ASECO within a period of time, there is what we call ‘time bar’, you cannot come to the venue of election to bring a petition, you have to do this seven days to the election. So, we have put a lot of measures in place; ranging from documentary to security, we are very much prepared for the election; I still enjoy the relationship and cooperation of my committee members, ASECO committee comprises of seven persons seeing this through with me as well. So on the issue of rigging, we are putting up very good defence and measures, barring any unseen circumstances, there is not going to be any rigging and I can assure everybody of that.
Why are ANLCA elections staggered?
Our constitution states clearly that every executive could not have been deemed to be in office until you stand for an election and you get your certificate of returns and each chapter executive has a mandate of three years, this is so because most time there are lacunas, for example the eastern zone, we inherited an executive that has been in office for three years, apart from this we have a constitution dated back to 2008, and the new constitution being exercised presently states specifically that within the last 90 days of expiration of the tenure of the incumbent, elections should be conducted, but because this constitution is new to the incumbent none of them took the opportunity of coming forward to declare their interest within the last 90 days of election and this is a lacuna, this lacuna created needs to be resolved through another provision of ANLCA constitution through the convening of AGM, but this did not take place for some time, so when you look at this period, the gap has displaced the date mechanism from the east to the west, so it is some elements that brought about the elections being conducted differently.
What can be done to ensure election is carried out at the same time?
There is nothing to be done about it, the one for the western zone can be done on the same day because the constitution is very clear that all ASECO needs to do is to make sure that election is conducted within the last 90 days, so, for the man whose tenure expires January 13 and the one whose tenure expires December 20, the election can be conducted on December 10 because it is still within the 90 days, this is the first time that an incumbent will be in office and an election is being conducted just like it is done nationwide. Formerly the system is such that the incumbent vacates the office for 90 days and an interim executive appointed to take charge so that election will now be conducted while the incumbent and the aspirant is no more in office, but the present constitution states clearly that the incumbent will remain in office and the elections will be conducted within 90 days, whatever date it falls within the 90 days is the prerogative of ASECO.
Will the incumbent being in power not influence the outcome of the election?
Just like I said, we have put a lot of mechanism in place. In the last dispensation, before the incumbent even left the office for the interim executive to come in, the incumbent would have registered a lot of members and hand it over to the interim executive, all the interim will do is to continue the registration, but presently, registration of members through the biometric card is the function of a different body which is the biometric project team, so the incumbent does not really have access to deliver registered members to anybody or to ASECO, it is the duty of the biometric team to register people, so the issue of power of incumbency cannot come into play here because it is not the incumbent that is doing the biometric registration and there is no way they can influence the outcome and what they need to do now is to go out enmass to convince their members to go and register for the biometric card and convince them again to make sure that they use it to vote them in. We have a level playing ground presently, both the challenger and the incumbent are gunning for members to come forward and vote.
In the past, ANLCA elections have been characterized by threats to life, what is your advice to contestants this time around?
It is going to be very peaceful, people usually disagree to agree, what I believe has been the problem in the past is that the election guidelines and procedures have not been laid bare for everybody to understand it and for people to seek interpretation, so what we have done is to make it very plain, the choice of words has been very plain without ambiguity, and this is the first time that anybody can go to ANLCA website and download ASECO guidelines and list of members in different chapters, you can download what the criteria is for anyone to aspire for any office, so it is very open, if you know you are qualified for the office of chairman, the guideline states that you must have been a member for five years, in order words your license must have been existing for five years, these are verifiable facts through Customs for anyone to know, so if the criteria are laid bare, there will not be reason for anybody to threaten anybody because if you are not qualified then you are not qualified, nobody will be disqualified unless you deserve to be disqualified, and we will go the extra mile to make that disqualified aspirant agree with the reason why he was disqualified, gone are the days that you get disqualified and you don’t know why, if you are disqualified you are going to agree with me in principle and in writing the reason why you were disqualified, everybody will be free to investigate each other.
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