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| Nkereuwem Onung, NATOP President |
News
All may not be well in the
ranks of the National Association of Tour Operators (NATOP) ahead of its
forthcoming elective Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled to hold next Monday
in Nigeria’s home of peace and tourism, Jos, Plateau State.
Members of the body are at
loggerheads with the executives of the association following perceived
irregularities on the body’s forthcoming elections at the AGM.
The source alleges that
there is a plot to foist the present General Secretary of the body, Ime Udo of
Leadway tours on the association as its new President.
Another point of
dissatisfaction that has led to the current crisis according to the source is
the failure of the body’s executives to present an audited account for the past
eight years it has been in office. According to the source, an unapproved
auditor was used to do a rushed audit account which was not released to
members14 days before the AGM as constitutionally stipulated.
The source further alleges
that the body’s executives are keen to hang on to power because of the regular
financial support from bodies like South African Tourism and state governments
such as Cross River State. He adds “Plateau State is providing money for a
conference but so far, there has been no accountability or transparency from
the association’s executives.”
So far, aggrieved members
of the association have threatened to boycott AGM as well as seek legal redress
if the executives of the association carry out the planned AGM next week.
Investigations reveal that
Nkereuwem Onung who runs Remlord Tours has been the President of the
association for the past eight years whereas the constitution of the
association allows for a maximum of two terms of two years each.
Other alleged irregularities
include that the AGM been publicized on social media did not come to the notice
of members of the association until a month ago. There is an allegation that
the Executive Secretary and President of the association have been hiding the
general membership list because they do not want the general members to have
access to each other or share notes so they blind copy members during mail
updates.
In addition, it was
alleged that the association’s Executives went to Abuja to secretly inaugurate
an Abuja chapter based on the false idea that new people will be conveyed to
Jos to vote for Imeh on the assumption that most of the Lagos based operators
won’t make it out of anger or short notice.
All efforts to reach the
President of the association on the issue were abortive. When Vice President of
the association, Muyiwa Salami of Divine Tours was contacted, he claimed to
have been away for a long time and has no idea of happenings at the moment.
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