Sack Of DG NATFORCE, Alleged BoT Members Has No Powers
The Director General of National Taskforce and President Importers Association of Nigeria (IMAN); Chief Osita Okereke has described his purport sack by disgruntled element calling themselves Board of Trustees led by one Chief Gilbert Bravo Obi as farce as they have no powers to do so.
The group had on Friday allegedly sacked Chief Okereke for alleged fraud and forgery of its Certificate of Incorporation.
Chief Okereke denies of any wrong doing stating that Secretary General of NATFORCE, Mr. Kinsley Chikezie who was in possession Certificate of Incorporation of IMAN had told him that he lost the certificate when he was attacked by armed robbers on his way to Abuja after he was asked to bring the certificate to the headquarters.
He said upon that the NATFORCE approached Corporate Affairs Commission for reissuance and after fulfilling requirements for reissuance of certificate of incorporation, another certificate was issued.
Okereke who stated this in a statement issued Wednesday, noted that the purported meeting of Board’s of IMAN at Port-Harcourt on Friday 11thof December 2015 is illegal as the group has no locus standi to hold such a meeting.
“More so when purported BoT members have lost their membership of IMAN having been suspended by a resolution from a previous meeting of the National Executive Committee NEC of IMAN duly summoned by the DG NATforce by instructing the secretary as required by the constitution.
“Article 15B (f) of the constitution of IMAN empowers NEC the right to appoint members of BoT, Patrons and Grand Patrons of the association.
According constitution, “The supreme authority of the association shall vest in the general meeting which shall have power to decide the overall policies and programs of the association including electing officers of the association and removing same from office”.
DG National Taskforce disclosed that the only person authorized constitutionally to summon a meeting of the BoT or NEC is the President of Importers Association of Nigeria IMAN who incidentally is the Director General of NATFORCE but peradventure where the president did not summon a meeting two third of the members of the Board of Governors can mandate the secretary to do so.
He said in the instance Chief Gilbert Bravo Obi is either the chairman of BoT or Secretary General of IMAN neither any of Chief Jackson Bent, Dr Raph John and Chief Emeka Ani.
DG NATFORCE urged the public to disregard the purported sack as he remains the Director General of NATFORCE and President of Importers Association of Nigeria.
He noted that the NEC in its meeting of 7th of October, 2015 attended by (45) forty five out of (48) forty eight members dully signed by the Secretary General passed a vote of confidence and went further to extend tenure of the executive officers to 2019.
Chief Okereke claimed that Gilbert Obi and his cohort are Dasuki’s boys who want to hijack NATFORCE because of the recent publications that exposed their criminal activities that have cost Nigeria fortunes.
While advised the group to go to court if they fill they have any case against the him, Okereke called on President Buhari to investigate Chief Obi alleging that his only trade in stock is bunkering business.