C/River IPMAN Crisis: Caretaker C’ttee Chair Not Permanent, Abang Tells Obi

Newly inaugurated caretaker committee chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Comrade Peter Okim Abang, has charged the factional chairman of the association, Comrade Robert Obi, to sheath his sword honourably so that he can join hands with him to make the association stronger.

Abang said that making derogatory statements against the office which he once managed isn’t good for the association, stressing that it was good to quit when the ovation is loudest.

Abang made the remarks while reacting to statements in the media credited to Obi that he was still in charge of the Association despite Abang’s inauguration as new IPMAN caretaker committee chairman in Cross River State.

Abang, who asked IPMAN members to disregard Obi’s claim to the leadership of IPMAN in the State, stated that Obi’s interim stay at the helms of affairs was long over due.

“I’m using this medium to ask Obi and Co to produce the document that made him a substantive IPMAN chairman.

“He should tell us who his national president is. If he is unable to do so, then he should stop parading himself as IPMAN chairman in Cross River state so that his action dosen’t lead to breakdown of law and order.

“If the letter, which he has, bears no name of his national president, he and his cohorts should stop parading themselves as the association’s exco members so as not to cause breakdown of law and order. Security agents should please take note.

“Going by documents which I have here with me, it shows clearly that the association’s stakeholders and the Supreme Court tell us that Chinedu Okoronkwo is authentic National Chairman of IPMAN.

“If you look critically on the documents in my possession, you will find a letter from Attorney General (AG), with another letter also from Inspector General of Police, who after critical perusal of the documents came to conclusion that this is the right faction that can put IPMAN on the right track and restore peace once again in IPMAN.

“I do not know if they have any of these letters. Let’s assume letters like these aren’t with them. I wonder why they are still parading themselves as authentic leadership of IPMAN in the state. Let his faction produce documents that made them authentic IPMAN chairman, and possibly tell us who their national president is.

“What the young man has done is a clear illegality to our

constitution. Leading the association in the capacity of chairman is supposed to be three years subject to renewal.

“He been using caretaker committee fiat believing that Cross Riverians would still be behind him as far as the chairmanship position is concerned.”

He assured that election for position of chairman would be conducted after exhausting his three months in office, stressing that the former chairman should stop crying over a spilt milk given the fact that his time was up.

“We can’t continue to run the association on the premise of caretaker committee. There must be an election to put an end to all manner of illegality. If you ask him when his tenure is going to elllapse, hardly can you have an answer.

“There is no way one’s caretaker position would have lasted beyond three years; unfortunately his caretaker position lasted up to five years. What he is doing is to cause all these problems so that he can remain perpetuating himself in office.

“We have passed that stage; we cannot pretend that there is peace. All the people causing crises in IPMAN are doing so, so that they can remain perpetually in office to benefit. IPMAN would be united under my watch,” Abang added.