The crisis in the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) appears unending as the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the association has warned against the planned inauguration of a parallel National Executive Committee (NEC) on January 18, in Abuja.
The caution by the BoT of IPMAN follows reports of a plan by some members of a faction of the association to inaugurate new NEC members.
The warning is contained in a statement issued by the Secretary of IPMAN Board of Trustees, Mr Tunji Adeniji, on Monday in Lagos, describing the proposed parallel NEC as illegal.
Read: IPMAN insists there is no leadership change in national executive as crisis persists
According to NAN, Adeniji said the BoT led by Alhaji Abdulkadri Aminu has notified the security agencies of the situation, describing the move as a flagrant violation of the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court in Abuja on Dec. 14, 2018.
The BoT secretary maintained that the judgment read by Justice Musa Muhammad in suit No. SC15/2015 recognised Mr Chinedu Okoronkwo and Alhaji Danladi Pasali, as President and Secretary of IPMAN, respectively.
Adeniji said that the tenure of the executive would expire on December 14, 2023, adding that IPMAN had already zoned the next president of the association to the North-West.
While noting that the IPMAN crisis had been settled by the Supreme Court which was the final arbiter of justice in the country, Adeniji insisted that any attempt to install another set of persons as NEC of the association was null and void.
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Adeniji added that the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, and the Inspector General of Police, Mr Usman Baba, have already directed that the judgment must be complied with.
He called on the security agencies to apprehend those behind the move to forestall the breakdown of law and order.
According to him, IPMAN as an association has only one registered Board of Trustee (BoT) and registered constitution with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
What you should know
IPMAN has been enmeshed in a leadership crisis and protracted legal battle on the authentic leadership of the National Executive Committee of IPMAN since 2014, which has lingered since then.
The Supreme Court had on December 14, 2018, delivered judgment in the case brought by Chief Obasi Lawson against Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo and 10 others, confirming Okoronkwo as the authentic leader of IPMAN’s national body and by extension, all the state executives put in place by him.
Recall that a few days ago, the Spokesman of the national executive of IPMAN, Yakubu Suleiman, announced that no leadership change has been effected in the association’s National Executive whose tenure is expected to expire on December 14, 2023.
The clarification appears to be a fallout of the leadership tussle in the association with different factions reportedly laying claims to the association’s national executive.
