By Thompson ABISOLA
The President, Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN), Mr Adeniyi Ojikutu, on Friday called for peace in the association in order to move the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry forward.
Ojikutu made the call in Lagos in reaction to what he described as “the purported sack of the association’s executives by the Board of Trustees (BOT)’’.
He said the association’s constitution does not give three members of the BOT the power to sack the executives.
According to him, the constitution states that there must be a minimum of seven and a maximum of 12 BOT members to sign any letter of dissolution of the executives.
“In Article 4 of the association’s constitution, the president as a member of the BOT must also be a signatory to such a letter. I was not involved in any meeting dissolving the executives. The secretary was not in any meeting where the sack of the executives was discussed.
“Three people in the BOT cannot write a letter and say they have sacked the present executives,” the CAPDAN chief said.
Ojikutu said the Lagos State Government had made efforts to bring all members of the association together through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to accommodate all ethnic groups.
“The MoU states that the leadership of the association should be rotational, especially the presidency for a three-year tenure.
“The positions in the executives have been structured to accommodate all tribes so as to forestall crisis. For the purpose of unity and togetherness in the Computer village, it was agreed that the MoU is the best option in resolving the crisis,’’ Ojikutu said.
Acting Chairman of the BOT, Mr. Ola Ajigboro, said the sack of the CAPDAN executives was carried out based on the expiration of their two-year tenure, which ended on July 26.
Ajigboro said the MoU being talked about was reached among few individuals. He said the constitution stipulates two-year tenure for the executives of the association, saying that a caretaker committee had been inaugurated.
A Software Developer and a trader in the market Mr Austin Agbakor, pleaded that the MoU should be honoured so as to continue to enjoy peace.
Agbakor said before the MoU was drafted, there had been leadership crisis which had been affecting the flow of business.
He pleaded that all should comply with the MoU.
