ANLCA CRISIS

lt will be recalled that five members of the BOT namely; Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha, Prince Taiye Oyeniyi, Chief Ernest Elochukwu, Chief Dennis Okafor and Mr. Dayo Azeez in February this year after their meeting at the ANLCA National Secretariat in Lagos informed that the Board had gotten an extension of another six years in office with effect from January 16, 2020 having regularized its registration at the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC.

Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha who was elected Chairman BoT during the meeting said the extension was informed by  a Federal High Court ruling in Lagos which failed to recognize some of them as lawful members of the Board ob the basis that  their names was not contained in the Certified True Copy at the CAC as members of the ANLCA BOT.

Mustapha said following the development, they paid mobey from their pocket to CAC to regularize their names as well as the accrued annual levy to CAC,  a development he argue imposes on them the need to begin their tenure afresh at the point they became recognized legal members of the board. 

Frowning at the development, ANLCA National Secretary, Alhaji Abdulazeez Babatunde Mukaila said the BoT tenure ended 7th February, 2020, noting that nobody gets elected into Board unless through an AGM called specifically for that purpose.

He said, “Whatever was their challenge or their inability to get themselves registered after their election, I believe that is their internal issue which is between them. “However, that does not make them not to be our Board. Close to five to six hundred corporate companies most travelling by road freely gave them that mandate to sit on the Board of ANLCA Trustees.

“No one will sit in an air-conditioned room and extend such tenure. It is a joke of the century and it cannot stand.”

On whether ANLCA appealed the ruling of the Federal High court on the status of some members of the Board, Mukaila said, “the extant judgement that stipulates that we do not have Board and therefore until registration is made, there is no Board in ANLCA. I am not a lawyer, I am aware that Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha went on appeal in respect of that judgement. However, he came up and said he is withdrawing that appeal.

“So, I am not going to dabble into what the court said or not but my understanding is that we have a Board, if they have an internal crisis or any reason why they could not register themselves for six good years, but they did that when it was ten days to go, they have documented that they are the Board. It will be in the anal of history that is why we have their pictures here.

“Therefore, we have a Board, if they did not perfect any paper in Abuja, we gave them that mandate. It is going to be a joke of the century if a mandate given willingly by over six hundred companies at the Annual General Meeting is being upturned by just five people, it is not possible and it is not going to stand.”

Contacted for reaction, the chairman of the embattled led board, Mustspha said he would only react after a formal meeting of the board.  “I will  will let you know about our position as soon as we have met.  There is cause for  alarm, the matter will be resolved in the interest of all”, he said.