Etim Okon remains Nat’l President Of ASCSN, says Joshua Apebo

The crisis rocking the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) is yet to be over notwithstanding that the court has acquitted Comrade Innocent Bola-Audu of human trafficking allegations.

The Secretary-General of ASCSN, Comrade Joshua Apebo, said Comrade Tommy Etim Okon remains the National President of the Association.

In a press statement issued in Lagos, on Wednesday , Apebo stated that the National President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Comrade Tommy Etim Okon would lead the union to the next National Delegates’ Conference where a new National President will emerge.

“We therefore, urge our teeming members throughout the country and the general public to discontenance the misinformation and disinformation in the social media where an expelled member of the Union, one Bola-Audu Innocent is claiming to be the National President of the Association,” the union emphasized.

The union recalled that in 2021, Bola-Audu Innocent and three others were arraigned in a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Maitama, Abuja by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

They were accused of engaging in human trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable persons.

It posited that if FCT High Court ruled that Bola Audu Innocent had no case to answer in the criminal case he was facing with three others, that had nothing to do with the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria.

“As far as we are concerned, Bola-Audu was expelled by organs of the Association for anti-union activities and he filed a suit at the National Industrial Court (NIC) in Abuja to challenge his expulsion.

“It is, therefore, surprising that Bola-Audu Innocent is now claiming in the social media to be the National President of the Association when the matter he instituted at the NIC is being adjudicated upon by a court of competent jurisdiction,” the union regretted.

The Union posited that if Nigeria was a sane clime, Bola-Audu would certainly have been charged for contempt of court but in this country where the culture of impunity reigns supreme, he is still moving about freely.

“Meanwhile, our members should remain calm for they know their National President. Bola-Audu Innocent remains expelled”, the Secretary-General said.