ANLCA chieftain rubbishes Election Petition Panel

Immediate Past Secretary of the PTML Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr Basil Nwaolisa, has described the setting up of an election petition panel by the ANLCA national leadership, to investigate allegations of abnormalities in the conduct of the association’s recently held election, as foolish and shameful.
Nwaolisa, during a chat with SHIPS & PORTS DAILY yesterday, accused national executives of the association of allegedly manipulating the election, even as he cast doubts on the impartiality of the panel, the members, whom, according to him, are allegedly under the influence of the national executives.
He said: “That morbid electoral petition panel is the highest foolishness and comedy of our time, because the people that formed the panel are still the executives; those that manipulated the votes! Those with evidence of the manipulation are now the umpires; they are also the judges! So, what can you get out of it? The electoral petition panel, as is so constituted, is the same set of people who manipulated the election and still, sitting on the seat of the panel! It is shameful, it is irresponsible.”

Nwaolisa, who contested for the position of the President-General, Igbo Maritime Forum (IMF), but lost out to Chief Damien Obianigwe, likened his perception of the conduct of the ANLCA election to that of the IMF held last August, alleging that both elections were rigged.
Nwaolisa lamented: “This is the same criminality that happened when there was Igbo Maritime Forum election. This is just a repeat, because I understand that some of the people involved in the Igbo Maritime Forum election were involved as well. We have a situation where the umpires are fathers or sons or relatives of the contestants, what do you expect? The Chairman of the Electoral Commission of the Igbo Maritime Forum, himself, was manipulating electoral votes. He was the one that rigged the election with other members of the Igbo Maritime Electoral Commission! So, these people manipulate the electoral process, appointing these people and believing that in the end they will do their bidding and this is what happened exactly in the ANLCA election.”