The National Executive of the Alumni Association of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (AANI) has rescheduled its 43rd Annual General Meeting due security concerns.
The Annual Meeting and General Elections which were initially scheduled to hold today in Jos, the Plateau State capital, have been postponed to May 13, 2023, after considering the security situation in Jos and that of its members who will be travelling by road.
A statement by the Publicity Secretary of the AANI, Brigadier General SK. Usman (rtd), said the rescheduling became necessary after assessing objectively and dispassionately the safety and security of the majority of AANI members.
The statement said: “Phone calls were made to various security agencies but they were not definite about the security situation and could not guarantee the safety of those travelling to Jos by road and after due deliberation and consultation, the president was emphatic that AANI 43rd AGM should hold in NIPSS Kuru as scheduled but however considering the position of majority of the state chapters and NEC present at the meeting as well as the security which is unpredictable as confirmed by various security agencies, the meeting decided to postpone for two weeks.
“Consequently, the president called for an emergency meeting of the Executive Committee and in view of the importance of the issues at hand, the meeting was attended by members of the NEC and following decisions were reached after exhaustive deliberations and consultations with chapters from Lagos, Borno, Ebonyi, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara. Out of all the states consulted, nine of them wanted a postponement and the meeting should be held in Abuja while three chapters namely; FCT, Lagos and Plateau wanted the meeting to go on as scheduled while two others namely Borno and Kaduna said they were ready to go by the NEC’s decision.
“The meeting takes into consideration the need to avoid disenfranchising many members who will not be able to make it to Jos for the AGM because of the prevailing security situation and consequently agreed to reschedule the 43rd AANI AGM to now hold on the 13th of May, 2023 in Abuja.”
