A major crisis has erupted in the Maritime Association of Nigeria MARAN, over the alleged mismanagement of funds of the association’s Cooperative Society fund estimated at over N6million by a cabal.

Meanwhile, the Integrity Group within the association, which has repeatedly called for the shortlisting and probe of those that have breached the trust of members by mismanaging the funds is concluding plans to petition the Lagos State Ministry of Commerce, which licensed and instituted the cooperative over the breach with a view to taking necessary actions to recover the funds and punish offenders.

Formed sometime in 1989, MARAN is the oldest beat association within the shipping and maritime industry and has over the years harboured very prominent maritime journalists as members. It has also been reputed to have operated within the finest democratic culture and corporate governance until the recent years when some people of questionable character were admitted as members.

The current crisis began about two years when the immediate past president of the association. Mr. Anya Njoku decided to carry out an audit of the activities of the cooperative society from inception, which led the opening of a can of worms, as its funds had been looted.

As part of efforts to carry out a fair and transparent audit of the funds of the cooperative society, the president had sought and got the approval of the general congress to set up an audit committee headed by Abba Collins with John Obot and Fidelis Ugbomeh, among others as members, which unearthed this can of worms.

The committee discovered several discrepancies in the approval and disbursement of loans to members. It also discovered that several times, loans were approved for some members above the statutory thresholds. There were also repeated cases where some members got fresh loans even when the old loans had neither been serviced nor paid back, a development that shocked most members.

There was a particular case whereby some executive members of the cooperative society, according to reports released by the probe committee, allegedly pulled out a whooping sum of N1,000,000 (one million naira) only, and shared among themselves.

In a desperate effort to stop further probe of the cooperative funds and possibly evolve recovery mechanisms, most of the members indicted by the audit committee in connivance with the sacked Cooperative EXCO started a clamour for the removal of president over phantom allegations.

Some of the members indicted by the probe committee in connivance with some other members who were punished for various wrong doings began the ‘Anya –must –go’ campaign in order to forestall the implementation of the report and recommendations of the probe committee. As part of efforts to probe the phantom allegations against the president in line with the constitution, he was asked to step aside while the association’s Ethics and Disciplinary Committee, which is a standing committee headed by Pastor John Iwori, Fabian Anawo, Secretary and Prince Deinde Adefarakan well as Alex Akao both members looked into the allegations.

After about three weeks of deliberations, the committee cleared the president and other EXCO members of all the allegations but the rampaging debtors insisted that the president must never return to the seat, which led to the dissolution of that Anya Njoku-led EXCO and subsequently set up a caretaker committee. This move was vehemently opposed by the Integrity Group since some of the people nominated into the committee are allegedly indebted to the cooperative society but the rampaging debtors had their way since they are in the majority.

Since assumption of office about six months ago as chairman of caretaker committee, has refused to implement most of the key decisions of the congress, one of which is the publishing of a comprehensive list of those indebted to the cooperative. Another of such resolutions is that deductions should be made on monies/benefits accruing to these indebted members to ensure a gradual but steady recovery of the cooperative society’s funds, which has never been done

With the expiration of the six-month tenure of the interim caretaker committee, it has refused render an account of stewardship for the period to pave way for the dissolution of the interim government and also appoint an electoral committee that would midwife the electoral processes as provided by the association’s constitution.

The committee is rather insisting that it must organise the election in which the members have also indicated interest to contest as vice president, Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General and when some members of the Integrity Group opposed this obnoxious move they purported to have suspended them for six months, which many members have seen as a ploy to silence the opposition till the election is over when they must have emerged as members of the association’s new EXCO.