There is no end to the lingering
crisis in the Actors Guild of
Nigeria(AGN). Instead of the
deadlock which started early last
year subsiding, it is escalating
with every passing day. Today
the Guild is at crossroad;
orphaned by human
circumstances. Before now, the
battle was between
Kanayo .O.Kanayo and Ejike
Asiegbu. Later, Segun Arinze and
Emeka Ike appeared on the
scene.
The new dimension to the saga
is the emergence of another
man who is currently laying
claim to the AGN presidency. Mr
Chuma Onwudiwe who was
elected alongside Segun Arinze
as the National Secretary of the
Guild during its election held in
Port-Harcourt, Rivers State in
September, last year is the new
claimant. Mr. Chuma Onwudiwe ’s
claim is hinged on an alleged
disqualification of Arinze few
weeks after his election as the
president of the guild, by the
Guild ’s electoral commission.
The embattled Onwudiwe who
claimed to be acting in
accordance with the
constitution of the group,
declared himself Acting
President of AGN. Arinze,
according to the new AGN
‘ President’, and who is a known
crony of former president Ejike
Asiegbu, was allegedly
disqualified based on his
inability to provide proof of his
academic records.
In this exclusive encounter,
Onwudiwe speaks on the
immediate and remote causes of
the AGN crisis, warning Mr.
Arinze to stop parading himself
as president of the Guild. But in
a swift reaction, Emeka Ike,
another central character in the
AGN crisis, dismissed
Onwudiwe ’s claims maintaining
that he remains the only elected
president of the guild. Find out
who leads AGN: Segun, Emeka
and Chuma …?
I’m AGN president — Chuma
Onwudiwe
Untold story of the AGN crisis!
I was elected General Secretary
of the Actors Guild of Nigeria,
AGN in September 2009, in Port-
Harcourt, Rivers State.
Unfortunately, the man who
was supposed to be the
president of the Guild, Mr. Segun
Arinze, did not have the
educational qualification to
contest for the position of
president.
So, he tried as much as possible
to mislead the guild ’s electoral
commission (AGNEC) by lying to
them that he possesses a
Bachelors Degree in Dramatic
Arts which he later confessed
to be false.
He also claimed to have obtained
a Diploma certificate but he
never forwarded the certificate
to the electoral commission. As a
result, he was subsequently
disqualified by the guild ’s
electoral commission, meaning
that he has ceased to function
as president of AGN.
Unfortunately, Segun Arinze
decided to collaborate with the
enemies of AGN to distort the
constitution of the Guild ’s
national executives. Despite his
disqualification, Arinze is still
parading himself as president of
the guild in an attempt to
mislead the public. He ’s
collaborating with some
individuals who claim to be
members of the Board of
Trustees of AGN, and whose
tenure has expired since 2008.
Dropped as General Secretary?
No. It’s impossible. We have a
registered constitution which
states clearly the procedure
regarding the impeachment of
any executive. First of all, I did
not commit any offence to
warrant anybody removing me
from office.
I contested an election for the
position of the National
Secretary and I won it. Nobody
can employ any unconstitutional
means to remove me from
office.
If I must be removed from
office, a procedure must be
followed, and it starts with the
president taking my offence to
the national executives, where a
panel will be constituted to look
into the offence. And if I’m
found guilty, I would be
punished accordingly.
But nothing like that happened.
The truth about the whole thing
is this: in terms of certificate
verification, the guild ’s electoral
commission continued to verify
certificates submitted by the
contestants three weeks after
the conduct of election.
And it was while carrying out
this exercise that the AGNEC
discovered that Mr. Segun Arinze
was not qualified to be
president of the guild. He
refused to present any
certificate to the commission
within the stipulated three
weeks after the election.
Subsequently, he was
disqualified.
But Segun did not resign from
office to save himself from
further embarrassment. Instead,
he has continued to parade
himself as president of the guild.
People should wonder why all
these things happened almost at
the same period. About the
same period Segun was
disqualified, he went to liaise
with Emma Aguguo and Ifeanyi
Dike who tried to shield him by
interfering in the affairs of AGN,
the same business they have
been doing in the last 14 years.
I guess, we have a constitution
that specifies how an officer
should be removed from office.
Was the AGN constitution
applied in my own case?
The answer is no. Unfortunately,
none of my colleagues who
were elected alongside Segun
Arinze committed any offence
in the first place. We couldn ’t
hold any national executive
meeting during this period as
we were busy battling to assert
ourselves.
The office of the BOT, as an
advisory body, expires the
moment a new executives are
elected into office.
But these notorious people
never deemed it necessary to
obey the constitution of the
guild. At the risk of sounding
immodest, I have always stood
on the side of constitutionalism,
legality and constituted
authority.
Acting President of AGN
That was why I had to serve as
a special adviser to the erstwhile
administration of Ejike Asiegbu.
I have always contributed
positively concerning the
smooth running of the affairs
of AGN. Indeed, it was in
recognition of my contribution
that I was invited to be part of
the think-tank that provided
ideas to reposition and stabilise
AGN, in addition to making the
body assume its proper status
locally and internationally.
That was the crime I committed.
Additionally, given the many
irregularities that have
characterised the leadership of
the guild in recent times, I
accepted for the first time to
contest for an elective position
in AGN.
I have no regret whatsoever for
my contribution towards the
betterment of the guild. Today,
providence and circumstances
have made it possible for me to
assume the status of the Acting
President of AGN .
The constitution of the guild is
very clear in this matter. In the
event of disqualification,
impeachment or incapacitation
of the national president, the
national secretary automatically
acts as president for three
months, before a by-election is
held to fill the office of the
president.
Constitutionally, I’m the elected
national secretary of AGN, and
by disqualifying Segun Arinze,
I ’m now the acting president of
the guild. Arinze is parading
himself as president of AGN
illegally and unconstitutionally.
Emeka Ike and Myself
Emeka Ike was not elected
president of the guild. You have
to get it straight. The
constitution of the guild is very
clear on this issue. Emeka Ike
himself has discovered the
truth, and at the right time, he
will do the right thing.
He’s eminently qualified to
contest for the position of
president of the guild. Right
now, the position of AGN is that
there ’s only one executive led
by myself.
That I was elected on the 2nd of
September, 2009, as General
Secretary of the guild is not
contestable. ‘Who swore me in
as the acting president of
AGN ?’, you may want to ask.
The constitution of the guild
empowered me to assume the
position.
According to the constitution, in
the event of disqualification,
impeachment, death or
incapacitation of the national
president, the national secretary
automatically assumes the
status of the acting president
for a period of three months
before a by-election is held to fill
the office. So, my mandate here
is not only to act as national
president but also, to enure that
AGN achieves stability, led
responsibly and the constitution
of the guild upheld at all time.
No, You ‘re not—–Emeka Ike
AGN at crossroads!
I’m in charge. As
I’m talking to you now, we are
billed to meet today (last Friday)
with the Kogi State Governor.
But I couldn ’t make it because of
the unveiling ceremony of the
10 celebrities that will feature in
the maiden edition of the Gulder
Ultimate Search: Celebrity
Showdown, which I happened
to be one of them. I sent my
secretary, Mr. Chigozie Atuanyi
and my VP to represent me at
the meeting.
I’m not a noise maker. You don’t
need to be acquainted with
what we are doing, rather, you
need to see things done by us. I
have been working silently, and
we have articulated a lot of
projects we want to execute.
I’m assuring you that very soon,
activities will commence in the
guild once again. I can only tell
you that
AGN has become a theatre of
drama. It ’s all about hijack by
some persons who see the guild
as a platform to make money.
And the only way they can get a
piece of the cake is by
instigating and causing
confusion within the leadership
of the guild.
The crisis that trails AGN since
last year is man-made.
Operating from where?
I’m a law abiding citizen. The
police advised us to be law
abiding by staying off the
secretariat, pending when our
case will be determined. You
know, our matter is still in court,
and I don ’t want to raise any
further tension.
Right now, I’m operating from
my office. I wouldn’t want to
take the law into my hands. At
the right time, I will move into
the secretariat.
Legitimate president!
Segun Arinze is not claiming he’s
the elected president of AGN.
Rather, he ’s saying that he’s
appointed by the Board of
Trustees (BOT). I went through
an election that was prayed in
court by the same BOT that
appointed his executives.
To be frank with you, the
atmosphere is tensed up. But I
assure you, in no distant time, all
these distractions will be
brought under control. You are
going to hear more often from
us now than ever before. We
have started making plans and
soonest, you will be intimated
with the progress we have
made so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment