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| Tony Okoroji after he was restored as COSON Chairman |
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| Efe and his faction |
Since the purported removal of Chief
Tony Okoroji as the Chairman of COSON, last December, the Copyright
Society of Nigeria has known no peace again. And there are
indications that if urgent steps are not taken to nip the evil in the
mud, the lingering leadership crisis may cripple the once active
collecting society.
At the moment, the crisis is not
getting close to an end as the war keeps raging on daily basis.
Recall that the crisis was triggered by
the action of six Board members of the society who met on December
7, 2017, and moved a motion to remove Chief Tony Okoroji as the
chairman of the society. He was replaced by an artiste and events
manager, Efe Omorogbe. This move, however, generated a lot of
mixed-feelings among the members , leading to the Extra- Ordinary
General Meeting of the society held in COSON Arena on December 19,
2017. At the meeting, Okoroji was restored as Chairman of the
society,days after he was asked to step aside by the organization’s
board.
But despite this new development,
Omorogbe-led faction maintained their grounds that Okoroji remained
sacked as COSON Chairman. However, in the midst of the crisis, the
Nigerian Copyright Commission,NCC, voided the return of Tony Okoroji
as chairman of COSON. The regulatory body, while wading into the
matter insisted that it would act within its oversight function to
examine the books of COSON and advise as appropriate.
Meanwhile, angered with what he calls,
"undue interference in the Internal Affairs of Copyright Society
of Nigeria,COSON, by NCC", veteran highlife musician, Sir Victor
Uwaifo who chaired the meeting that restored Tony Okorji wrote to the
Director General of NCC, condemning the commission’s attempt to
give instructions to COSON, “as if it’s a department under your
Commission.” In his letter, Uwaifo said “I read with utmost
disgust your letter to COSON widely published on the internet in
which you attempted to give instructions to COSON, an independent
private sector organization, as if COSON is a department under your
Commission.”
Uwaifo maintained that the removal of
Okoroji was an attempt to hijack COSON at a critical period in its
history and destroy the fledgling organization, the same way PMAN was
destroyed. “Absolutely, the interest of these six individuals
cannot override that of the thousands of COSON members , affiliated
and foreign reciprocal partners who are overwhelming impressed and
satisfied with the incredible personal sacrifice and leadership of
Chief Tony Okoroji…” Uwaifo said.
However, in a renewed battle to take
over the leadership of COSON, Omorogbe-led faction on Tuesday, hit a
brick wall after they were prevented from holding an emergence Board
meeting at COSON House, in Ikeja. The Board members made up of Efe
Omorogbe, Dare Fasasi, Obi Asika, Joel Ajayi, Sikiru Agboola
represented by Oby Egbe and Audu Maikori who was represented by Seyi
Lawal, held their meeting in front of the COSON office, after they
were prevented from accessing the building.
In a statement released after the
meeting,which was witnessed by NCC representatives led by Mr. Obi
Ezeilo, director and head of Lagos Zonal Office, Omorogbe-led faction
made a number of resolutions, including the disengagement of White
Dove Solicitors as COSON lawyers and the withdrawal of COSON as a
plaintiff in the preparatory suit of which Efe Omorogbe was notified
via advance copy.
The board also adopted a resolution for
the immediate suspension Mr. Chinedu Chukwudi as General Manager of
COSON and appointment of Bernice Eremieghe to act as general manager
until further notice. Other resolutions included the changing of the
signatories to the COSON account, the initiation of a full forensic
audit of COSON account from January 2015 to December 2017 and
consultations with the COSON lawyers, the NCC and MCSN before the
adoption of a position on the court judgement. It was the first
official meeting held by Omorogbe-led faction of COSON. But these
resolutions by Omorogbe-led faction seems to hold no water as the
management staff of COSON, have continued to pledge their allegiance
to the Chairman and members of COSON. In a statement, explaining the
Omorogbe-led faction was denied access to the COSON office, Mr.
Chibueze Okereke, Head, Corporate Affairs, COSON, said, “the action
was taken ‘in stout defence of the society.”
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