ANLCA to introduce associate membership, clears air on ASECO chairman appointment

The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has announced plans to introduce associate membership for members who are unable to renew their licenses due to financial constraints.

National President of ANLCA, Sir Emenike Nwokeoji, who disclosed this at a press briefing in Lagos on Wednesday said the move is aimed at recognizing the contributions of members who have served the association for many years and the need to keep them connected to the association even when they can no longer renew their licenses.

He said, “I am proposing for the next NEC meeting that I will make room for associate members. May be somebody has been our member for 10 to 15 years but due to financial situation he is unable to renew his license. Does it mean that we will throw all the services he has rendered away? Let us look at it and at least give him an associate membership. He might not get all the priviledges but he would still know that he belong to this family that he has contributed something.

“It should not be because things have gone so badly so we will just throw you away and whatever we are doing, we will not have anything to do with you.
Who knows who might be in such position tomorrow. Some of our members are suffering not because of their own fault. Some licenses were cloned by criminals and use them to clear vehicles without the knowledge of the owner. So that is what we intend doing.”

Nwokeoji also addressed the controversy surrounding the appointment of Frances Itua as the new Chairman of ASECO, who some members claimed recently renewed his license and hence not eligible to hold the position.

According to Nwokeoji, there is no law in the ANLCA constitution requiring a certain number of years of licensed membership to hold the position.

“The Chairman of ASECO resigned and then we appointed somebody and people stated raising issue but I stand to be corrected there is no where it is written in our constitution that for you to be a chairman of ASECO you must have been a licensed member for a certain number of years.

“We are still insisting that every member of ASECO must have a license but what people are adding to it is that the license must have been there for 10 to 15 years. There is no such law in the ANLCA constitution.

“We have a constitution and I will need anybody that is making the statement to quote the page of the constitution where it stipulate the qualification that is required of an ASECO Chairman.

“When we released the list of ASECO members there are opposition to it but we are open to making amends because we must carry our members along,” he explained.

The ANLCA President further explained the difference between ASECO and elected positions within ANLCA stating that while elected officials require consistent license for a certain period, ASECO appointments are more flexible.

“If you want to be secretary or president in ANLCA, you must be a license member consistently for certain number of years but not ASECO members because they are just a committee. We can even appoint people that are not licensed into a committee the only thing is that they cannot head the committee.

“Why is it that way? Because Chairman of ASECO is by appointment. It is almost an adhoc committee. You can appoint them today and remove them tomorrow without recourse to NEC or NECOM. But the people we require to show their years of practice is somebody that is coming to contest election, ” he said.

Speaking on the crisis at the Airport Chapter, the ANLCA President condemned the actions of the former chairman, Bamgbala Adewusi for seeking police protection to remain in office despite a valid court judgement
recognizing Temitope Akindele as the authentic chairman.

He appealed to members to remain calm, assuring that the NECOM is using all legal means to ensure a peaceful transition and prevent any breakdown of law and order at the airport.

His words, ” What NECOM has done is implement a valid court judgment. If anyone is dissatisfied, they are free to write to us, as we have internal mechanisms to address any issues. But seeking police protection to remain in office is unacceptable for a former chairman. Our constitution clearly outlines how to handle such acts of insubordination. I know what it took for us to appeal to our members to refrain from reacting. I urge them to remain calm as NECOM handles the situation. We were voted in on a platform of restoration, and we will see it through.”

Nwokeoji said despite attempt by some few individuals to cause crisis in the association, with allegations of walk out at the recent emergency NEC meeting, the elected executives will not give in to their provocation but continue to uphold integrity to bring about restoration.