An interim committee has been setup to manage the affairs of Kogi state chapter of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), following the suspension of the chairman, Dr Olushola Baoku.
The interim committee will hold sway until a new state executive are elected at the annual general meeting on August 11.
According to a communiqué issued at the end of the emergency general meeting of NMA branch in Lokoja on Saturday, the interim committee made up of all the past chairmen of the association were directed to freeze the association’s account.
The communique which was signed by the EGM Chairman, Dr Joseph Arome Iduh and Secretary, Dr Raji Adediji Idris, passed a vote of no confidence on the suspended NMA Chairman, Dr. Baoku Olusola, and the remaining State Officers Committee members.
The Communique resolved as follows:
“The congress passed a resolution empowering the Committee of Past Chairmen to take over the running of the Association as an Interim/caretaker committee pending the 2024 AGM in August 2024.
“The congress also resolved that a prima facie case of gross abuse of office and constitutional violations were established against the Chairman and current SOC and thus referred them to the State Disciplinary Committee, and that the committee should report back to the interim leadership of the association within 2 weeks, who will look into the recommendations and report back to the congress during the forthcoming AGM.
“In furtherance of the above resolutions, the Interim committee is empowered to exercise all the powers of the State Officers Committee of the Association and interphase with any and all Secretariat Staff, members of the Public and all Affiliates as deemed necessary for the sole purpose of the discharge of their duties.
“The interim committee also had the mandate of the Congress to execute ongoing plans, including the already scheduled medical outreach in Okene and AGM Meeting in Lokoja, and the General elections of the Association scheduled to take place during the AGM next month”.
The communique, while noting that the meeting was attended by 96 members of NMA across all the affiliates, seven past chairmen, among others, observed that the requisition and demand for an emergency general meeting (EGM) by the members of NMA Kogi state branch was in order and in line with the provisions of the association bye-laws and that the constitutional requirements for such requisition was fulfilled.
Other observation raised in the communique reads in part
“The proposed MDCN verification is not a requirement for convening or attending an EGM of the Association: a Meeting which in this case necessitated by the deliberate failure of the Chairman to call for any to address any of all endless lingering issues that had plagued the Association which is now on the brink of collapse.
“Issues bordering on non-payment of levies and under-remittance of dues are issues that requires resolution of disputes and financial reconciliation between the leadership of the affected affiliates and the SOC. The depositions of former SOC members of falsification of their signatures at various times, high-handedness and unparliamentary conducts of the Chairman are very worrisome, and needs to be properly investigated.
“The failure of the Chairman and the SOC to convene a SEC Meeting the governing body of the association in over nine months does not conform with the provisions of the constitution of NMA and the NMA Kogi State Branch Bye-law.
“The mass resignation of seven out 11 members of SOC including Auditor, Secretary and the Asst. Secretary, means the Association is without a Secretariat, making it constitutionally difficult for the SOC to continue to function.
“Written petitions on abuse of office levelled against the Chairman by aggrieved members and affiliates are deserving of urgent attention. The lingering issue regarding NMA NEC directive to NMA Kogi State Branch was also noted.
“The congress also noted that the last two (2) Ordinary General Meetings (OGMs) which held virtually lack the constitutional backing because conditions for a virtual meeting were not in force (that is prohibition of physical gathering by government due to pandemics and epidemics) as at those times”.
