Members of Lagos Country Club yesterday spoke out in one voice at the estraordinary general meeting (EGM) of the Club.
The agenda of the EGM which was chaired by the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee (CTC), Chief Olayinka Ogunmekan, was the ratification of the disciplinary committee’s report on corruption allegations labelled against some former Management Council members of the Club.
After the disciplinary committe’s report was read out by Barr Wale Osomo, a member of the CTC and a past president of the Club, the members in attendance dramatically and unanimously accepted the recommendations of the CTC with a roaring voice vote, accompanied with loud cheers of jubilation.
According to the CTC review of the disciplinary committee’s report, the six-count petition against the former president of the Club, Seyi Adewunmi, were either ‘dismissed’ or ‘not liable’. The petitions against Ose Lato (former Social Secretary), Otunba Abimbola Olaniyi (former Treasurer) and Tokubo Ashiru (former Council Member) were also dismissed. However, the former Secretary-General of the Club, Dr. Tunde Bajela, was recommended for reprimand for ‘refusal to carry out lawful directives of the management Council’, ‘engagement in dishonest practice’ and ‘failure to adequately supervise the club manager’.
Throughout 2024, the prestigious club had been embroiled in internal crisis which led to four court cases. But in July 2024, justice A Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos had harmonised the cases after aggrieved parties decided to tow the path of reconciliation, gave a consent judgement which was signed by the parties.
The consent judgement stipulated the formation of a Caretaker Committee to take charge of managing the affairs Club according to the constitution for 90 days. Within that period, it charged that members alleged to have committed infractions face a disciplinary committee, after which the decision of the Caretaker Committee be forwarded to an Extraordinary General Meeting of members which would ratify such decision or not. The consent judgement also ordered that the caretaker committee conduct an election of officers into the Management Council to oversee the day to day running of the club.
It was the inability of the initial CTC to complete the task that necessitated the Board of Trustees chaired by Aare Kola Oyefeso to innaugurate a new CTC in March this year.
With this action, the process of electing new officers to manage the 75 year old club is set to commence.
The outcome of the meeting was welcome by members who are the most affected with epileptic services in the club for the past 16 months.