The Association of Registered Freight Forwarders Nigeria (AREFFN) has removed its National Secretary, Mr. Chidi Anthony Opara from office as well as expelled him from the association over insubordination.
This was contained in a letter dated June 1, 2020 and addressed to Opara by Mr. Ejike Metu and Mr. Innocent Elum, Chairman and Secretary respectively of the AREFFN Board of Trustees (BoT) and copied the National Executive Committee and the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) as well as made available to newsmen.
The letter reads: “Recall that sequel to a letter of complaint brought against you by the President, the Board had on May, 2020 issued you a query with a directive to answer same within fourteen (14) days.
“Recall also that instead of complying with the directive, you chose to abdicate your responsibilities by not only resigning your office but also withdrawing your membership of the association. And while efforts were still being made to address the matter, you rushed to the press in defiance of our internal conflict resolution mechanism,” the letter reads.
The letter stated that, “believing you to have acted on impulse, the Board had refused to join issues with you in the press hoping that you would retrace your steps on a sober reflection. Unfortunately, that was not to be. But we would not relent in our efforts to make peace.
“Thus in our letter dated 19th May, 2020, we rejected your resignation and further urged you to do justice to our query to pave way for reconciliation. Again, you refused to heed to our advice. Instead, you would go back to the press and the social media platforms with petty comments fit only for the trash can.”
AREFFN said the totality of Opara’s conduct in this matter represents gross insubordination and so much more, saying Opara’s refusal to answer to association’s query gives evidence that he committed the offences as Mr. President alleged in his petition. “Consequently, we are left with no other option but to remove you from office as the National Secretary and expel you from the association for good.
