By Stephen Adeleye
Lokoja – Dr Omakoji Oyiguh of the Department of Family Medicine, Kogi State Specialist Hospital, on Sunday emerged as the new Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Kogi chapter.
In a keenly contested election online during the NMA’s virtual AGM/2020, Oyiguh polled a total of 161 (59 per cent) of the votes cast, to defeat his closest rival, Dr Ashraff Abdulhakeem, who polled 112 votes representing 41 per cent of the total votes cast.
Other officers elected to pilot the affairs of the association for the next two years are: Dr Adeyemi Williams as Vice Chairman; Dr Famotele Tolorunju as Secretary; Dr Chimieze Udebuani as Asst. Secretary and Dr (Mrs) Edith Agu as Treasurer.
The rest are: Dr Kelvin Emmanuel Bola as Public Relations Officer; Dr Samuel Babatunde as Director of Welfare/Social and Dr Mohammed Umoru, Auditor 1.
Speaking to journalists shortly after his swearing-in, Oyiguh commended the electoral committee for conducting a free, fair and credible election to the satisfaction of all contestants.
He commended the immediate past chairman and other officials for their vibrancy, numerous achievements, leadership style, the transformation and innovations they brought to the association within two years.
”The immediate past chairman is a man of peace; he did his best. We are going to build on his legacies and take NMA Kogi to greater heights,” he said.
The new chairman solicited for the support of all NMA members in Kogi including all the contestants, to join hands with him and the new exco to improve their welfare and for the association to be more visible and vibrant.
Earlier in his valedictory speech, the Immediate Past Chairman (IPC) Dr Kabiru Zubair, thanked members of the SOC, SEC, Past Chairmen, Medical Elders and the Congress for their support, and the media for projecting the union’s activities in the last two years.
Zubair highlighted the numerous achievements of NMA in the last two years such as improved welfare package and facilitating landed property for members, purchase of land and commenced building the long proposed NMA Kogi State Secretariat which had reached to the roofing level as at July 2020, among several other achievements.
”In the last two years, we have built on the legacy of previous executives of this noble association and we believe that this is the way to go. We did not only sustain the gains of previous executives, but improved on it.
”As we exit the stage today, we believe that if the incoming executives build on these landmark legacies, NMA Kogi State will get better and move forward,” he said.
(NAN)
