AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MLSCN ACTING REGISTRAR & CHAIRMAN, 2025/2026 ADHOC NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMITTEE (ANEC)

05 January, 2026

Dr Donald Ibe Ofili

Acting Registrar/CEO, MLSCN

Chairman, 2025 Ad Hoc National Electoral Committee (ANEC)

Abuja

Compliments of the Season and New Year Felicitations

We, the Patriotic Medical Laboratory Scientists, concerned members of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) formally present our position on critical matters arising from the ongoing implementation of the Ministerial Committee’s recommendations and the subsequent resolutions adopted at the Strategic Stakeholders’ Meeting on 22nd November 2025. This intervention is rooted in our commitment to constitutional fidelity, institutional integrity, and the enduring interest of our noble profession.

We acknowledge your visible efforts and the broader interventions of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in navigating AMLSN out of its prolonged leadership crisis. It is precisely because we respect your office and the peace process that we present this position openly, trusting that only transparency, constitutional compliance, and equity can restore lasting confidence and peace.

 

Background and Context

We have carefully followed the activities of the Ministerial Reconciliation Committee constituted by the Honourable Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, and the subsequent Strategic Stakeholders’ Meeting of 22nd November 2025, which adopted a roadmap under the Doctrine of Necessity to resolve the AMLSN leadership impasse.

Key resolutions from that meeting included:

• Immediate dissolution of the 15th AMLSN National Executive Officers (NEOs).
• Discontinuation of all litigations relating to the leadership crisis.
• Constitution of a new Ad Hoc National Electoral Committee (ANEC), chaired by the Acting Registrar/CEO, MLSCN.
• Nomination of ANEC members by zonal leadership.
• Conduct of elections on or before February 2026.
• Strict adherence to the AMLSN Constitution, with emphasis on fairness, transparency, and equity.

We acknowledge the prompt steps taken by your office in dissolving the 15th NEOs and calling for ANEC nominations. However, certain critical issues demand urgent attention and correction.

The Imperative of Constitutional Compliance

The recommendation to dissolve the 15th National Executive Officers and conduct fresh elections is a tacit acknowledgement of fundamental errors in the last electoral processes. These errors include both procedural lapses by the previous ANEC in non-compliance with constitutional provisions, and the judicial intervention that necessitated a stay on electoral processes particularly concerning the contested office of National President.

The very call for fresh elections underscores this anomaly and represents a critical opportunity to correct the faulty foundations that have fueled the conflict our Association has endured. The oversight mandate of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and MLSCN, as clearly stated in the adopted resolutions, includes the promotion of reconciliation and constitutional compliance. We place particular emphasis on constitutional compliance for we cannot build any peaceful resolution on a faulty and unconstitutional foundation. Such an approach will never bring the much-desired peace but will instead create room for further rancour and set dangerous precedents.

On the Exclusive Presidential Candidacy Restriction

We note with grave concern the provision restricting eligibility for the office of National President exclusively to Dr Casmir Ifeanyi and Dr Uche Odionyenma. With the greatest respect to the Committee and all parties involved, we submit that this restriction lacks constitutional merit and legitimacy.

The AMLSN Constitution does not contemplate, nor does it authorise, any mechanism by which only two individuals to the exclusion of all other qualified members may contest for the highest office of our Association. The two named individuals are not the only members who meet the constitutional criteria for election to that office. Our profession’s national interest is not worth being reduced to a pacifying tool for appeasing individuals especially when these same parties did not even contest against each other in the flawed 2023 election cycle and have, through their unresolved imbroglio, brought our Association into disrepute.

The bottom line is clear: Any individual who is qualified and meets the constitutional requirements should be permitted to participate in the forthcoming rescheduled election. Anything less is an affront to the democratic and constitutional principles upon which our Association stands.

 

Observations on ANEC’s Position, Constitutional Grounding, and the Committee’s Recommendations

We observe that certain far-reaching decisions being recommended are not grounded in constitutional backing. The ANEC, under your leadership, has demonstrated flexibility in its approach with the opening of the presidency position to all who qualify beyond the two parties in contention, a clear indication that strict adherence to every recommendation of the Ministerial Committee and Sub-Committee would not be feasible in the face of constitutional compliance. Rather, there is a recognised need to align with the Constitution.

We caution, therefore, that proceeding otherwise on other points at variance with the Constitution will not forge the path of peace but will instead create new constitutional problems, laying foundations for future disputes rather than resolving them. Decisions that set aside constitutional provisions, however well-intentioned, cannot produce sustainable peace.

 

Allegations of Bias in ANEC Composition

One of the principal actors in the crisis has formally raised serious concerns regarding the process of ANEC constitution, including:

• Alleged rejection of zonal nominees submitted through recognised leadership.
• Selection of individuals perceived as partisan.

To date, these concerns remain publicly unanswered, thereby weakening trust in the peace process. Silence on such matters allows speculation to thrive and undermines confidence in the electoral process. We respectfully urge that these allegations be addressed either by correcting the ANEC membership where necessary or by providing a transparent and satisfactory response to the concerns raised. Credibility is the foundation of any legitimate electoral process.

 

Cost of Nomination Forms

We note with concern that the high cost of nomination forms contradicts the spirit of service embedded in professional leadership. Leadership in a professional body must never be commercialised. The current pricing risks converting AMLSN elections into money-driven contests, effectively excluding capable but less financially endowed members from seeking office.

We urge a review of the nomination form fees to ensure inclusivity and to uphold the principle that service to the profession should not be the preserve of the wealthy. Otherwise, the current reconciliatory electoral efforts would be perceived as a means of disenfranchising those qualified to serve wholeheartedly but unable to afford the high cost set for nomination forms.

 

Unresolved Litigation Against the Association

The Ministerial Committee’s resolutions clearly stipulate that “evidence of litigation withdrawal shall be a prerequisite for contesting in the repeat election.” It is our understanding that both principal actors still have active, pending, or unresolved legal matters involving AMLSN.

It is fundamentally untenable for anyone to simultaneously claim leadership of an association and seek re-election to the same contested office. Any relaxation of this requirement would not only contradict the Committee’s own resolutions but would invite further litigation and perpetuate the crisis.

Claims of withdrawal from litigation must be supported by a properly filed and verifiable Notice of Discontinuance. Leadership cannot be built on private assurances or undisclosed documents. Members have a right to see evidence of compliance with the resolutions adopted in their name.

 

Concerns Regarding Eligibility and Branch Affiliation

Article 14(ii) of the AMLSN Constitution 2018 (as amended) is unambiguous:

“No member shall belong to more than one Branch/Chapter other than his State/Chapter of practice.”

We respectfully urge the ANEC to ensure that the constitutional violations of 2020 and 2023 are never repeated. Specifically, no candidate should be permitted to stand for election through crooked or fraudulent claims of dual branch affiliation belonging to a northern branch (FCT is part of the North) while simultaneously claiming membership in a southern branch (e.g., Ebonyi State) solely to circumvent zoning provisions.

Where such a candidate was not screened out in the previous cycle, this error must not be carried forward. We cannot claim to be preparing for peace by repeating fraudulent claims or unconstitutional practices. Even where ministerial intervention has granted exclusive rights to contest, such candidacy must still comply strictly with the Constitution not by setting it aside.

 

The Case for Electronic Voting

We note that the current electoral guidelines adopt delegate voting. We must respectfully but firmly state that this mechanism disenfranchises a significant proportion of AMLSN members and is unsuitable for the present circumstances.

The AMLSN Constitution (Schedule 2F) clearly provides for Electronic Voting, which eliminates delegate manipulation and ensures equal participation. This provision is already enshrined in the Constitution and represents the most inclusive pathway forward.

Our rationale includes:

• Constitutional entrenchment of electronic voting.
• Infeasibility and exclusionary nature of delegate voting under current conditions.
• The national scope of the crisis requires nationwide participation.
• Risk of delegitimising outcomes through delegate manipulation.

Given MLSCN’s technical capacity and oversight role, an electronic voting framework supported by independent ICT systems would ensure credibility, participation, and reduced post-election disputes.

 

Clarity on the Use of the Words “Directive” and “Oversight”

While we sincerely appreciate the constructive role played by the Honourable Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, we respectfully seek clarity on the interpretation of the words “directive” and “oversight.”

AMLSN is a professional association and pressure group not a parastatal under the Ministry. By law and practice, the Minister does not issue directives to AMLSN in the same manner applicable to agencies under the Ministry.

Under the MLSCN Act, AMLSN is not subject to ministerial or MLSCN oversight in its internal governance. Rather, AMLSN traditionally exercises professional and stakeholder oversight over the regulatory space occupied by MLSCN.

Our concern is not adversarial but aimed at preserving constitutional order, statutory boundaries, and institutional independence while pursuing peace and reconciliation.

 

Our Appeal

Dr Ofili, this moment is not about personalities, regions, or factions. It is about preventing a repetition of the constitutional violations that plunged AMLSN into crisis. We respectfully urge ANEC to:

• Uphold strict constitutional compliance in screening all candidates.
• Remove the unconstitutional restriction limiting presidential candidacy to two individuals.
• Adopt electronic voting as constitutionally provided.
• Address allegations of bias in ANEC composition transparently.
• Review nomination form costs to ensure inclusivity.
• Prevent benefits from prior constitutional breaches.
• Guarantee neutrality, balance, and transparency.
• Resist all pressures that compromise constitutional fidelity.

Peace imposed through procedural imbalance and unconstitutionality will not endure. Only justice, openness, and constitutional obedience will.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Patriotic Medical Laboratory Scientists

January, 2025

 

CC:

The Honourable Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Abuja

The Director, Medical Laboratory Services, FMoH, Abuja

All State Chairmen, AMLSN

All Nigerian Medical Laboratory Scientists