By Alade Adisa
The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, NAPPS, is now factionalised, as the issue of who controls resources at its disposal has led to members pitching tents with different leaders.
NAPPS, which has over 40,000 members across the country, is also divided over allegation of sit-tight syndrome levelled against some leaders.
New Daily Prime learned that a group, led by Mijinyawa Said and Samira Jibril is alleging that the tenure of Chief Yomi Otubela as the National President has ended and that a new set of leaders has been elected.
However, Otubela is claiming that he has been elected for another tenure and declaring the other group illegal.
The Said group operates from Abuja, while Otubela does so from Lagos.
Only recently, an Upper Area Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja presided over by Gambo Garba restrained the group led by Said and Jibril from organising or participating in a NAPPS conference scheduled to hold at Baze University Abuja or any other venue.
The court order in motion number MT/72/2024 and dated 18 November, restrained the defendants, including their officers, agents, staff, and any other persons acting on their behalf from running or operating a parallel NEC of the association.
“These orders are hereby granted pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice,” it noted.
However, the Otubela group, which has Abdulmumuni Kundak as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, held its NAPPS International Conference and Exhibition (NICE 2024), in Calabar, Cross River State.
Meanwhile, the NAPPS leadership in Lagos, led by Alaka Yusuf, where Otubela is, aligns with the Said group.
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To clip the wings of the Alaka leadership in Lagos, the Kundak-led BOT, warned, “All NAPPS states affiliates, as well as the majority of private school proprietors across Nigeria, are enjoined to note that we have only one NAPPS legitimate body recognised by law. We have only one BOT and one NEC.”
Meanwhile, the Otubela faction has elected new leaders for the Lagos State chapter.
They are Dr Bodunde Samuel as the new President, Chief Mrs. Yetunde Balogun, Vice President, Mr. Yusuf A. Ibrahim, Secretary, Mr. Adebisi, Financial Secretary and Mr. Olawale Cardozo, Treasurer.
The election of the new leaders followed the suspension and dissolution of the former executive committee led by Alaka.
Responding to the development, Alaka said the alleged dissolution of his team would not stand.
“It is a joke taken too far. We have a constitution that stipulates how leaders are elected and for how long. We came into office a little over a year ago and some people sat somewhere and said they have dissolved the exco and elected new ones. Who does that? They are the illegal body not us. They are the ones sitting tight in office.
“You can see that they are perpetrating illegalities. They operate from the office of one man who acts like a lord. We have our members solidly behind us and nobody can truncate our tenure until it expires,” he stated.
