Says “His reinstatement was illegal”

The ongoing feud between the warring factions of the Copyright Society of Nigeria, COSON, regarding its leadership, has taken a hilarious but interesting turn.

Efe Omoregbe, Dare Fasasi, Obi Asika, Audu Maikori, Paul Okeugo, Sikiru Agboola and Joel Ajayi, who claim to be the duly elected and long serving members of the board of directors, have publicly declared that it’s former Chairman, Tony Okoroji, who was sacked at an emergency board meeting on December 7, 2017, by a 6-4 votes, witnessed by NCC’s representative, Obi Ezeilo, remains sacked, while Efe Omoregbe, who was appointed by the board remains the society’s legal chairman.

According to Efe Omoregbe, who spoke to Showtime, Tony Okoroji, was sacked after hours of deliberation on issues surrounding the illegal dissolution of standing committees, the board’s position in reaction to a petition addressed to it by concerned stakeholders including Evangelist Ebenezer Obey, Mr Bode Akinyemi, Chief Osita Okeke, Chief Rogers Okonkwo, Mr Laolu Akins, and Mr Toju Ejueyitchie, because he betrayed the trust and lost confidence of the directors who appointed him COSON chairman.

“While we, Efe Omoregbe, Dare Fasasi, Obi Asika, Audu Maikori, Paul Okeugo, Sikiru Agboola and Joel Ajayi, duly elected and long-serving members of the COSON board have been steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that the society is run in strict adherence to the regulatory guidelines and high corporate governance standards, Tony Okoroji and the beneficiaries of his misdeed have pursued an agenda that has threatened to derail the society from its statutory duties. Okoroji’s sack was in line with the COSON MEMERT and therefore legal and incontrovertible; he betrayed the trust and lost confidence of the directors who appointed him chairman” he said.

He affirmed that the reinstatement of Tony Okoroji as COSON chairman at the society’s AGM which was hijacked by Okoroji and his cohorts on December 19, 2017, is shambolic and illegal.

“We stand here today to declare that the purported reinstatement of Tony Okoroji, the sack of the existing board and the selection of the gang of yes-men being paraded as the new board of COSON is completely illegal and will not stand. We enjoin members of the society and the general public to disregard the circus being performed by Okoroji and his acolytes and reassure them that the society is well protected and will not be turned into anyone’s personal hustle.”