Despite showing your interest, it was discovered that your name is not on the list of those contesting to be members of the Board of Trustees for the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents Why is this so?
I bought my interest form to participate in the Board of Trustees of ANLCA elections that is coming up. So, I can’t factor why my name is not on the list of people who bought the form. I bought my form and instead of them giving me my form here in Port Harcourt where I reside, they did not. The chairman of the Association Electoral Committee (ASECO) stays in Port Harcourt and he has the form. He refused to give me my form in Port Harcourt, compelling me to go to Lagos and pick it. And I can’t go to Lagos, I have so many alternatives and I asked them to use DHL. But before the DHL will get to Port Harcourt, the date is almost running up. I mean the date of closure. So, I had to back it up with my letter which I wrote to the ASECO chairman and copied the National President. Letting them know that my form will not be submitted at that time the deadline has been set based on my reasons that they did not give me the form in Port Harcourt. But if they had given me the form that day, I would have bought it, probably the next day, which was 16th; I would have submitted it without any rancor. So, it was just an attempt to scheme me out or to disenfranchise me, and we are in a very civilized world where your rights cannot be trampled on when you know what you are doing. So, it’s not an issue. That is the simple thing that happened there. I want them to give me the form. I’m not having any issues with anybody.
But other contestants also picked from, even from Port Harcourt. We have the likes of Kingsley Offor and others.
That is the point. Why didn’t they give me my own in Port Harcourt? That is the question. So, if somebody can sit at his office, and disenfranchise someone that has a legitimate right like you, because he finds himself in a position to influence some decision, somebody like me will not accept it. And that is why we have the Court to decide. Why will my right be trampled upon? It’s a simple thing. I don’t want to go deep into it, because I want to know why they didn’t want to give me the form in Port Harcourt where I reside and the form is here in Port Harcourt.
So, do you think this is a deliberate act from the NECOM or from the ASECO?
Yes, it is from the ASECO, because the NECOM has nothing to do there. It is the responsibility of the ASECO to conduct elections for us under the supervision of a board. So, that was why I wrote the letter to ASECO informing them that my form cannot be submitted at that time, because of so-and-so reasons and they never rejected that letter, but they collected it. Remember they have collected my money.
Could it be because of your support for the last government, is it more or less like a vendetta?
My brother, I don’t want to say that. Let them be the ones to judge that. This is an association all of us belong to. I was part of that last administration. I don’t know what anybody should talk about. I was a member of the last NECOM. I was the Assistant National Secretary in the last one. So, I don’t know what they want me to do. Do you want me to support those who don’t want us to survive, who had four or five years. I’m not against anybody. They have done the election and the election has gone. So, we should not be bringing that one to bear, because it has nothing to do with the election they want to do. This is a board election, not NECOM. NECOM’s election has been done. We all accepted it in good faith and we moved on. If it is a fact that the association belongs to all of us, nobody can scheme anybody out. We all join hands. Those who claim that they are billionaires; I’m not interested because whatever they are claiming it is none of my business.
As it stands now, what’s your next line of action, sir?
I’m already in court. I want to talk to the Court to resolve what I have complained about.
What kind of ANLCA board will you be expecting, if at all at the end of the day, you are allowed to contest in this election?
My brother, from the experience I have personally, I had been a Chapter Chairman, a Zonal Coordinator; I had been an Assistant National Secretary. I think those experiences are not something I bought in the market. I’ve been there to bring it to bear. Because if you look at the board we have today, it is a moribund board. Who is there in the board that is dictating the pace of advancing the cause of our members? Nobody is there. So let us see whether we can do something different. Because when I was the Chairman, and Zonal coordinator, I made things happen. You can make your enquiries. It’s not a matter of boasting. Just check my record of what I did when I was a Zonal coordinator. The association was fair to all members. Our members were all proud to be members of ANLCA at that time. So, for me to be on board, I’m going to bring those things to bear. I’m going to bring my experience to bear. Because if you look at what is happening on the board today, what can you show? Who is talking on the board? The board is the Custodian of what we are doing. But have you seen any impact so far? The idea is just to carry complimentary cards and begin to add cost to one thing or one thing or the other. Majority of them have warehouses where they have compromised and cannot defend the course of ANLCA and their members? Is that the kind of board we are looking for? We are looking for a board who will confront the government. Who will say, government, this is our benefit, this is our right, this is what we think that will advance the cause of this industry. That’s the kind of board we are looking for. It’s not a moribund board. It’s not a board that is afraid. It’s because their time in ANLCA will not be a time when they have to express their opinion. No. We are looking for vibrant people. Let’s forget about how many years we are there. The age of Methuselah has nothing to do with it. That’s the point. You tell me you are this or that. It’s not reflecting on your members. It means nothing to me. You were the national president once, and what about that? When you were the national president, what did you do with it? Now that we are in crisis, we have more than five factions in the same ANLCA when you were the president. So, what is the big deal?
The allegations we are hearing is that you are Chief Henry Njoku’s ‘boy’ who shouldn’t be allowed.
No, brother. I don’t know what Henry Njoku has to do with this. Henry Njoku is an MD Haritex Group of Companies. I am an MD of a Company too. I don’t know when I became the staff of Henry. Don’t mind them. They are only trying to call a dog a bad name, in order to hang it. Henry has led his team and left, then leave other people to take over. Some of them have been in the corridor of powers. Have you asked yourself, those of them that have gotten to the peak of our association, what are they still doing? That’s the question I have been asking. Somebody like Kamba and others, they have done their own quota, relaxed and given way for the younger ones. What is Ernest Elochukwu doing in the board? This is somebody that has gotten to the peak of being the National President. Look at those past presidents. Where are they? You cannot see them mingle with others. They have to make way for other ones to take over, probably a more vibrant voice. This is the digital age. We need to bring it to bear in this association. When the Minister implements a policy, he will think about our organization. They will need to ask for our input and also get our recommendations before the policy can be implemented.
