- Farinto, Chukwura miss out, Mukaila disqualified on election day
The Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has elected the group-of-nine as its new Board of Trustees (BOT) members comprising; Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha, Chief Kingsley Offor, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Utai, Chief Ernest Elochukwu, Adeola Mummuney, Chief Sunday Momoh, Chief Dayo Azeez, Tunde Awonuga and Chief Dennis Okafor.
During the elections which held on Thursday across the three zones; West (Lagos), East (Port Harcourt) and North (Abuja), the voting patterns were conducted in a secret ballot style while the final results reemphasized the association’s membership strength in the Western zone with 370 voters, Port Harcourt recorded 106 voters and Abuja 10.
The final election result saw Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha amass the highest votes with 334, Chief Ernest Elochukwu emerged second with 323; Chief Kingsley Offor 310, Chief Dennis Okafor 302, Sunday Momoh 294, Chief Dayo Azeez 291, Mohammed Sanni Utai 275, Tunde Awonuga 270, Ademola Mumuney 239; were among the top nine candidates.
A former Vice Chairman of the ANLCA BoT, Chief Ozor Chukwura polled 217 votes while a former Acting President, Dr. Kayode Farinto got 204 votes and Mr. Eniola Igbarola, a former BOT member, polled 136 votes.
However, the election wasn’t devoid of mysteries as a top aspirant and former National Secretary of the association, Mr. Babatunde Mukaila was disqualified few hours before the election and the Association’s Electoral Committee (ASECO) Secretary, Oluwatope Fatimehin, whose signature appeared on the official letter claimed his signature was forged.
This development threatened to disrupt the Western zone election as it provoked loud echoes of dissatisfaction; but there were neither protests nor court injunctions as Mukaila rather took an approach of peace, saying that he had invested a lot into building peace in ANLCA to become a party to conflicts and commotion.
Earlier, the National President of ANLCA, Mr. Emenike Nwokeoji, described the BOT election as a demonstration to the general public, and port stakeholders, that ANLCA is fully back in the comity of associations in the maritime industry.
His words: “In truth, I have been National Vice President for two tenures before (2010- 2018). I had contested and lost elections in 2018 to be the National President. But I never hesitated in congratulating the declared winner.”
“Importantly, 5 years, after our misunderstanding in ANLCA, it is time to come together to chart a new course of relevance for our association, for the benefit of our long-suffering members, for our nation, and humanity’s sake.”
“To ANLCA members, I must thank all of you for your resilience, perseverance, understanding, and patience, during the crisis, so much so that you never fell for the cajoling of other associations to join them, by departing ANLCA for theirs.”
Nwokeoji also advised the voters choose credible candidates while also considering the constitution of an ANLCA BOT that has representation of the major ethnic groups in the country.
The Western zone election which held at Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos was monitored by several Customs officials, including a representative of the Comptroller General of Customs, Nigerian Police Force, the media and some royalties.
