NAPTAN crisis deepens as rival factions claim leadership

A leadership crisis is rocking the National Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria as rival factions lay claim to the association’s leadership after the Federal Ministry of Education halted a disputed national election in Abuja.

The ministry, through its NAPTAN Desk Officer, Joseph Achede, reportedly directed the contending parties to suspend the election and return to dialogue, citing alleged breaches of the association’s constitution.

A faction believed to be loyal to one of the presidential candidates staged a walkout after Achede left and advised that the congress should not continue.

However, another faction loyal to a different presidential candidate insisted that the congress should continue, arguing that the ministry was only an observer and that the National Executive Committee of NAPTAN could proceed with the election.

Speaking with The PUNCH, the Chairman, Board of Trustees, NAPTAN, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, said the proposed election breached the association’s constitution, which provides that national elections should be conducted between April and May.

Ogunbanjo said the ministry also questioned the continued stay of the current leadership, noting that the constitution prescribed a four-year tenure for national executives.

“The present leadership has been in office for over 20 years, despite the constitutional provision limiting the tenure of executives to four years,” he said.

He added that the ministry raised concerns over allegations of imported delegates and a pending court matter in Osun State involving one of the presidential candidates, Dr Ekundayo Ademola.

Ogunbanjo said the ministry directed the factions to resolve their differences through dialogue and ensure strict compliance with the association’s constitutional provisions before another election was conducted.

However, the outgoing national president of NAPTAN, Haruna Danjuma, rejected the ministry’s position, arguing that the association’s constitution did not make the presence of the ministry’s representative mandatory during its congress or election.

Speaking with The PUNCH, Danjuma said the association had informed the ministry of its intention to hold the congress and that the Permanent Secretary had assigned Achede to attend as electoral officer.

He said the ministry’s decision to halt the process came after one of the presidential candidates, Prof Boniface Odey, allegedly sought the ministry’s intervention.

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Danjuma said he had no interest in determining who would succeed him, noting that four candidates from different parts of the country contested the presidency.

According to him, two of the candidates were from the South-West, while the South-East and South-South produced one candidate each.

“My tenure has come to an end, and I have made all arrangements with the committees to organise the general congress, handing it over to whoever Allah has chosen to be the new president,” he said.

Danjuma said he had deliberately avoided supporting any of the candidates, adding that he encouraged those seeking the position to campaign and seek the support of delegates.

He explained that the association had been unable to conduct an election for several years due to security challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic and other disruptions.

On the ministry’s objection to the timing of the election, Danjuma said the association’s National Executive Committee had the power under its constitution to organise the congress and constitute an electoral committee if the ministry did not conduct the election.

He said Achede and members of his team eventually walked out of the congress after directing that the process be suspended.

Danjuma claimed that the ministry’s concerns included the eligibility of one of the candidates and the status of some delegates.

He also disputed the claim that the Osun presidential candidate was ineligible because of a court case, arguing that the matter should first have been addressed by the state chapter before being escalated to the national body.

Danjuma further claimed that the congress proceeded after the ministry representatives left and that Uche, the candidate from the South-East, secured the highest number of votes.

He said Uche was subsequently declared president-elect and sworn in by the electoral officer appointed by the congress.

The development has created two parallel claims to the leadership of NAPTAN, with one faction insisting that a new executive has emerged and the other maintaining that the election was invalid.