‘It’s against the law’ — IMSU BoT warns against attending ANUA’s convention

Chinedu Obi, chairman of the Imo State University (IMSU) board of trustees (BoT), has warned the public against attending the convention of the Association of Nigerian Universities Alumni (ANUA) billed to hold at the institution.

In an interview with Global Sentinel, an online newspaper, Obi said attending the event is not only a violation of existing court judgement on ANUA but also the association’s constitution.

Ferdinand Akano, the president of ANUA, had fixed its convention to hold between Friday and Sunday, where the association hopes to hold its election, give an account of stewardship and exchange ideas on projects that will benefit the varsity.

The BoT chairman, however, said he is distancing IMSU’s alumni body from the convention, accusing Akano and his executives of violating a case it filed in the federal high court to stop all activities and programmes of ANUA.

Obi disclosed that over 2,000 members were angry at Akano, whom they see as an “impostor” for not complying with his suspension order.

Stating reasons for the BoT’s suspension of ANUA’s president, Obi explained that Akano and Anayo Uhiara, ANUA’s national secretary, were undergoing criminal investigation involving financial fraud to the tune of N25m for which it had involved the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

”The Board had in a letter dated 1st April, 2020 suspend its national president. The president was suspended for about 8 reasons, which includes non-compliance with the rules of regulations, collection of illegal fees from graduating students in the name of Alumni among several others,” he said.

“The suspended president initially complied to the suspension notice, but after two days, resumed office claiming that the board has no constitutional power to suspend him as advised by his lawyer. The constitution is the final authority in the association and the decision to suspend the president is unanimous as the motion suspending him was 9 over 9.

“Section 26 (j) of the amended constitution of IMSUAA says the board may sanction with penalty any erring member, chapter or national officer and ensure strict compliance with the provisions of the constitution of the Association and be the final adjudicating body on conflict resolution within the association.

“By virtue of his suspension, his staying on office is illegal. The board is filing a suit stopping the convention he is organising, we are not a member of ANUA, the person organising it in our name is suspended. We have written to law enforcement agencies, we have done a disclaimer warning that anybody working with him is doing so illegally.

“We are trying to prevent a situation where aggrieved members will disturb the conference and resort to self-help, this will create a breach of public peace, we have to nip this in the bud.

“We want to tell Nigerians not to attend that conference because anybody coming is violating the law, we have filed an action in the Federal high court stopping the programme and all parties will be served. We don’t want a situation where somebody goes there and there is an issue and the board will be held responsible. The board is advising Nigerians to move away from it.

“As a responsible body, we are crying to the whole world that we are not part of this and we want everybody to shun it. If he thinks the board does not possess power to suspend him, he should have gone go court to challenge his suspension and not parade himself as the president.”

Reacting to his suspension, however, Akano said the BoT’s opposition against his administration was because he refused attempts by the former to usurp his power.