It’s a bleak Easter pervading the once vivacious Lagos Country Club as its leadership crisis remains unresolved. Following the inability of concerned elders, and member- traditional rulers to rein in the combatants and disgruntled groups amidst a plethora of court injunctions, a group of members held an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) Thursday to navigate a peaceful pathway. The well-attended EGM posted solutions which they believed would put all acrimonies to rest.
The EGM’s seven motions listed for deliberation were approved. The voting result is below:
| Prayers/Motions | Vote For | Vote Against | Total Votes Cast | |
| 1 | The Trustees of the Lagos Country Club have no power under the constitution of the Lagos Country Club to suspend the Management Council of the Lagos Country Club who were duly elected into office by the Members of the Club. | 148 | 0 | 148 |
| 2 | The Trustees have no power under the Constitution of the Club to suspend the Management Council of the Lagos Country Club and inaugurate as a replacement an Interim Management Board to carry out the duties and functions of the Management Council as provided by the Constitution of the Lagos Country Club. | 149 | 1 | 150 |
| 3 | The Trustees have no power to suspend the Management Council of the Lagos Country Club and inaugurate as a replacement an Interim Management Board to carry out the duties and functions of the Management Council as provided by the Constitution of the Lagos Country Club without the consent, approval and ratification of the Members of the Club at a duly called General Meeting for same purpose. | 153 | 2 | 155 |
| 4 | The constitution and inauguration of the Interim Management Board amounts to an imposition on the Members and the Club contrary to the provisions of the Constitution relating to constitution of the body responsible for the day to day management of the Club and is therefore unconstitutional, illegal null and void. | 154 | 2 | 156 |
| 5 | A vote of No Confidence be passed on the Interim Management Board and dissolved with immediate effect. | 152 | 1 | 153 |
| 6 | A Vote of Confidence be passed on the Management Council and all the Officers therein without exception. | 154 | 1 | 155 |
| 7 | All Petitions and litigation actions do not have the support of the Members of the Club and are to be withdrawn forthwith without delay. | 143 | 2 | 145 |
While the EGM lasted, a detachment of police operatives kept watch in the precincts of the club. Though a successful EGM, it may not yet be uhuru as anxiety reigned supreme among members of the club which had prided itself as the most peaceful recreation/social club in Nigeria. Since its founding in 1949, it would be the first time Easter festivities would pass unannounced due to internal crisis, with a pervading fear that the club may be shut down by police authorities for security concerns if the threats to peace continue unabated.
The EGM is being contested by another group sympathetic to the club trustees who also obtained court injunction to stop the exercise. It is believed that the EGM wielded an enormous power to trim the alleged overbearing influence of the trustees who are pitted against the Club’s Management Committee.A Federal High Court in Lagos had adjourned hearing of the suit, filed by the Management Council of the club against the Registered Trustees over plan to replace them with an Interim Management Committee, to June 2, 2024. In the suit marked FHC/L/CS/301/2024, the president of the club and nine others had on February 23, 2024 in an ex-parte motion filed by their counsel, A. B. Ogunsusi, obtained an interim injunction restraining the defendants from dissolving the Club’s Management Council.At the March 14, 2024 hearing, the court also restrained the defendants from inaugurating a caretaker committee as replacement pending the hearing and determination of the interlocutory application.
The crisis emanated from the leadership tussle between camps of the President, Mr. Seyi Adewumi and the Secretary General, Mr. Tunde Bajela who is being supported by the trustees. The casualties of the acrimony are the traditional children’s Easter party, sections’ gigs and the general club party that has over the years attracted massive attendance. The Notice of EGM by Saka-Bello Adeshina Lukman (Convener/Proposer) and Francis Ofordu (Co-Convener/Seconder) states: “Upon requisition by Members calling for this Extraordinary General Meeting pursuant to S.12(b) of the Constitution of the Lagos Country Club 2013 (as amended) and with the sole purpose and intent to intervene in the crisis, the following Motions/Prayers shall be sought to be passed in the meeting.”All the motions were passed but not without a restraining order by Justice Ibrahim Kala of a Federal High Court pursuant to an application filed by the Registered Trustees through their counsel Dr. Kemi Pinheiro (SAN). It remains to be known if the EGM would still all storms or further divide the club fondly called a “second home for the family and a model in sports and social harmony….where good things happen”