Embattled Canuk chair faces fresh revolt as members oppose emergency general meeting

EMBATTLED Central Association of Nigerians in the UK (Canuk) chairman Tunde Loye is facing another crisis as his attempt to call a snap emergency general meeting (EGM) appears to be scuppered after the members of his executive opposed the move.

 

Last night, Mr Loye sent out a letter to selected Canuk delegates inviting them to attend an EGM on November 12 at the Nigerian high commission's premises in central London. However, in a swift rebuttal, this morning, Olugbenga Coker, Alex Achebe and Charles Sylvester, the association's general secretary, first vice chairman and second vice chairman respectively, issued a statement calling the meeting illegal and unconstitutional.

 

In a joint statement issued by the three executives, Section Eight, Sub-section Two of the constitution was quoted, which made it explicitly clear that an EGM can only be called if it is agreed to by two-thirds of the exco. They subsequently sent a counter letter to Canuk delegates telling them to ignore Mr Loye's email, arguing that this call for an EGM was unlawful and unconstitutional.

 

"8.2 The General Assembly shall meet in ordinary session once per annum, however extraordinary sessions may be held from time to time at the instigation of the executive committee, the chair and the patron. The approval of the executive committee by a majority of two thirds of the members will be required to instigate an extraordinary session of the General Assembly," their letter read.

 

Mr Coker added: "At the last executive committee meeting held on 1 September 2016 the committee resolved not to change Canuk’s constitution (except to add the object clause allowing the association to be registered as a charity).  We concluded that since the three months period agreed at the annual general meeting (AGM) has lapsed and there is no need to change the constitution, an EGM is no longer necessary.

 

"The executive committee therefore dissociates itself from the unconstitutional act of the chairman in unilaterally calling an EGM without the approval of the exco. We advise all delegates to ignore the call as there will be no EGM on 12 November 2016."

 

In his original letter, Mr Loye had attached a draft of several constitutional amendments which he made and was hoping to get adopted at the EGM. It is widely believed that he is eager to get the constitution changed to enable officials run for more than two terms in any office so he can seek re-election at the next AGM due to hold in March.

 

At the last AGM held in May, Mr Loye attempted to get the constitution changed but failed in his quest with the general house asking the executive to call an EGM within three months to look at the issue. With that time span having elapsed, Canuk member associations say calling an EGM now would be illegal.

 

In a joint statement issued by Dr Nnanna Igwe, the president of the Ebonyi State Union UK and Ireland; Jenny Okafor, the president of the Nigerian Women in Diaspora Leadership Forum and Ayo Akinfe, the coordinator of Uncelebrated Nigerians UK,  three Canuk member associations have distanced themselves from the EGM. They committed themselves to the stance adopted by the general secretary Gbenga Coker and the two vice chairmen.

 

Ms Okafor said: "At no stage did the executive of Canuk meet to agree on the fixing of a date for this EGM. Mr Loye has acted unilaterally in calling a meeting and as members of Canuk, we were not consulted either.

 

"Standard international convention dictates that notices of meetings are sent out by the secretariat but Canuk's secretariat is unaware of this EGM Mr Loye has called and this thus makes the recent invitation illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void. Unless there is a hidden agenda of some sort involving third term style tenure elongation, we see no justification for this EGM."

 

Mr Loye in his original letter had said that the EGM was being called to deliberate and adopt the draft Canuk constitution.  He apologised for the delay in conveying the EGM beyond the three months proposed by the AGM, claiming he needed to fine tune all arrangements for this purpose.

 

"I have the honour most respectfully therefore to invite all delegates to the EGM set to hold on November 12 2016 at the Nigerian High Commission. Also attached to this invitation is a copy of the draft amendments to the constitution for your perusal. Please circulate amongst your members and come up with any proposal on the 12th of November 2016," he wrote.