ANLCA: Mustapha’s group undecided in licensed agents AGM

By Chiazo Ogbolu

 

The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agent (ANLCA) Board of Trustees (BoT) says they are undecided in joining the Annual General Meeting (AGM) organised by the Council for the Regulation of Frieght Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN).

Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha, Chairman of the BoT, said this at a media conference on Tuesday in Lagos.

Mustapha said the AGM earlier scheduled for March 2 was shifted to Wednesday (March 15) due to the collation of results for the presidential and National Assembly Elections held on February 25.

He said that the names of delegates for the AGM should be disregarded if its members would join the meeting.

Mustapha disclosed that delegates were asked to present their licences and to pay dues of N10,000 to be eligible for the AGM.

Recall that ANLCA has been in leadership crisis for the past five years, even as the association is now factionalised.

Mustapha recently condemned the CRFFN Chairman, Alhaji Tsanni Abubakar, for recognising Kayode Farinto from the other faction to convey the controversial AGM.

“ANLCA in the past five years has been gradually going into intensive care. So, we have decided to talk to ourselves to take the bull by the horns and try and revive the association.

“Our secretariat was locked for about six weeks and both sides have been meeting at the Commissioner of Police office who cautioned us on the way forward.

“We have made suggestions concerning the board and chapter charimen, at the end of the day, some of the suggestions did not work,” he said.

Mustapha said that they were anxious, eager and ready to resolve the crisis facing the association in order to move forward.

He, however, said that they would not go into any peace resolution with their hands tied.

He said that they had been having conversations with the chairman of the CRFFN and the other faction but the meetings had not been fruitful.

“Around 10.00 a.m. today, I received a call from a former minister of transportation and also from the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Bashir Jamoh, on why I don’t want to cooperate with the CRFFN in resolving ANLCA crisis.

“The issue at the Tincan made me to try to resolve the ongoing crisis the association is having. I asked myself does the crisis amount to taking the blood of anybody.

“Tomorrow, we have a meeting with the chariman of the CRFFN on ways to resolve the crisis and he is also the convener of the AGM. If he is not at the meeting, it means no AGM for us and we will go home,” he said.

“We should have it in mind that if everything is settled and we are going for an election, we should come with an open mind,” he said.

Also speaking, Mr Taiye Oyeniyi, the Board Secretary, called on aggrieved stakeholders to shift ground for the sake of peace.

Oyeniyi said the this may not be palatable for some people.

“We do not want anything to happen to our association, and so we will definitely find solutions to our problems.

“If we go back five years ago, we know that we have lost a lot, our aims and objectives has gone down the drain and we have lost face in the industry.

“We want you all to know that we have not gone to mortgage anybody but we want to see the end of this crisis,” he said.

Oyeniyi pointed out that by the time they come back from the meeting tomorrow, there would not be any victor or vanquish.

(NAN)