The Stakeholders in Blockchain Association of Nigeria (SiBAN), a self-regulating group of stakeholders, innovators and enthusiasts in the Nigerian blockchain community, has been engulfed in a crisis, according to recent revelations.
On Wednesday, the SiBAN Board of Trustees released a statement that the group’s president, Obinna Iwuno, who was elected and sworn in in December 2022, has been expelled from the group alongside ‘his accomplices,’ citing ‘multiple breaches of trust and governance standards’ that SiBAN upholds.
The Board claims that Obinna had been suspended since May 2024 after a panel of inquiry was launched into allegations of misconduct levelled against his office. But things became unclear when it was discovered that on the same day, Obinna Iwuno attended the blockchain event, which had other notable personalities and regulators in attendance, as the SiBAN president.
On the same day, Obinna sent a statement to members that read: ‘SIBAN is now officially registered and trademarked.’ In his statement, Obinna also stated that decisive legal action has been taken against attempts to disrupt the association’s unity.
Founded in 2018, SiBAN styles itself as an association of blockchain & digital assets industry players, by blockchain & digital assets industry players, and for blockchain & digital assets industry players to serve as a self-regulatory body towards a friendlier, safer, and bigger blockchain & digital assets industry in Nigeria. With a vision to “transform Nigeria into the world’s safest and biggest blockchain space with the largest solutions, investments, and adoption.”
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Below is a chronicle of events that have led to a dilemma in Nigeria’s prominent blockchain association.
The crisis at SiBAN: A chronology
On 21st May 2024, the Board of Trustees (BoT), which describes itself as the guardians of the association as prescribed by Article 16 of the SiBAN Constitution ‘intervened’ directly in the association’s affairs. According to it, they could not “afford to continue to watch as things spiral down the hill” in the association.
The BoT was composed of its Chairman, Tony Emeka, Secretary, Emmanuel Babalola and other members: Chris Ani and Senator Ihenyen. This was the first statement issued by the Board of Trustees since its inception in 2019.
The statement released by the BoT, at that time, suspended the Executive council led by Iwuno.
“This suspension is pending the conclusion of the work of the panel that will be set up to look into the matters raised against the President, M.r Obinna Iwuno, and the relevant members of the Executive Council.” The BoT said.
Afterwards, a Caretaker Committee with Toritseju Kaka as the Chairman was appointed to administer the affairs of the association. Other. members include Ifeoma Ben (Secretary), Jude Ozinegbe (Public Relations Officer), Stanley Golomo (Financial Officer), Asemota Igiogbe (Welfare Officer), Tony Emeka (Ex-officio) and Iliasu Yakub (Member).
Two days later (on May 23rd), the deposed president, Obinna Iwuno responded with a statement. In it, he described the actions of the BoT as a calculated power grab orchestrated by a relentless faction within SiBAN. He claimed that the move aims to “subvert our democratic processes and establish a dictatorial regime.”
Obinna accused the trustees especially Senator Ihenyen, Paul Ezeafulukwe, Emmanuel Babalola and Chris Ani of seeking to impose their will upon SiBAN. He claimed that the BoT had no constitutional power to depose his executive team. He also described the action as an attempt to become the puppet master of a compliant president and Executive Council.
Following that, things went on as usual in the association, as the Caretaker Committee led by Toju Kaka steered the association. Yet, Obinna was notably attending events, granting media interviews and releasing statements as the president of SiBAN.
Yesterday (11 September), a Panel of Inquiry formed through a nomination process on the SiBAN WhatsApp group, in May, announced that it had concluded its three-month investigation. Members of the Panel include Chioma Onyekelu (Chairperson), Stanley Golomo (Secretary), Jackson Jerry, Valentine Odunze, Adebiyi Ayoyinka, Iliasu Yakubu, and Asemota Ogoigbe (inactive member).
Their report was submitted to the BoT and it was adopted by the body. A notable part of the panel’s report states: “Obinna did not take the opportunity to speak with the Panel or attempt to respond to the allegations against him, which significantly suggests his guilt.”
The report also alleged that Obinna Iwuno continued to use the association’s dedicated mobile phone, attend official functions and grant media interviews as the SiBAN president. This, it said, violates one of the resolutions of the Board of Trustees.
“The actions of Obinna Iwuno in office amount to abuse of office, arbitrariness, unaccountability, and lack of transparency. Obinna Iwuno was not accountable to any person, not even to the SiBAN Constitution which, with his actions in office since January 2023, he has continued to rape, and failed to reform for obvious selfish political ends”, the report said.
Ultimately, the BoT resolved that the dissolution and suspension of the Obinna-Iwuno-led Executive Council stands. Below is an excerpt from the resolution:
“Obinna Iwuno, from this moment, ceases to be the president of our association. He must immediately stop representing SiBAN in any committees, meetings, or conferences, or other related programs and functions. Obinna Iwuno must within seven (7) working days return all the properties of the Association in his custody to the Ikeja, Lagos office of the Association. IfIn the event that Obinna Iwuno acts contrary to this resolution, he shall answer for his actions within the ambit of the law.”
The BoT also ordered other members of the dissolved Executive Council to return all the properties of the Association in their custody as soon as possible. It concluded that the Caretaker committee led by Toju Kaka should continue to lead the association in the interim.
Later on the same day, Obinna released a statement via mail to SiBAN members where he criticised the report and the decisions of the BoT: “The regrettable actions of Tony Emeka Nwabishop and his associates Senator Ihenyen, Emmanuel Babalola, Chris Ani, Paul Ezeafulukwe and the group led by Toritseju Kaka have cast a shadow on the association”, it said.
He added that decisive legal action has been taken against the group. “The attempts to disrupt our unity will not succeed”, the statement added.
In an interesting twist, Obinna indicated in his statement that SiBAN is now officially registered and trademarked.
In response to the statement, the BoT released a statement to announce the expulsion of “Obinna Iwuno and his accomplices over the unauthorized and fraudulent registration” of the association.
“It has come to our notice that Mr Obinna Iwuno has unilaterally registered an illegal body named “The Registered Trustees of SiBAN” without proper consultation or approval by the community or the SiBAN leadership. This act amounts to utter fraud. Mr Obinna Iwuno’s condemnable action represents multiple breaches of trust and governance standards that our community upholds”, the statement said.
The BoT also claimed that Obinna formed a rival association while under suspension as president using the SiBAN brand with a new structure and appointed a separate Board of Trustees. The registration date was 17 August 2024.
According to it, Obinna appointed himself as the Chairman of his BoT. He is said to have appointed Emeka Ezike, the suspended Vice-President, Media & Publicity as the Secretary of the Board of Trustees. Other SiBAN-registered members allegedly named as members of the Board of Trustees include Rabiu Abdulhameed Jibia (suspended Acting Vice President, Memberships) Dania Oluwaseun Narudeen (aka Seun Dania) and Mela Claude Ake.
Ultimately, the SiBAN BoT announced that all individuals listed as “trustees of this newly formed association” purportedly holding out itself as “SiBAN” are expelled from the association, with immediate effect.
This and the preceding issues rocking the association have caused a ruckus within the community.
Comments from the struggling parties
Technext reached out to Obinna for his side of the story.
He describes the allegations of financial mismanagement as just unfounded. According to him, there is no proof to back the claims that he mismanaged the association’s finances. “That is just a baseless accusation, I have never mismanaged the association’s funds”, he said
Responding to the SIBAN BoT led by Tony Emeka Nwabishop, Obinna describes it as a group that arrogated power to itself and began acting as de-facto authority in SiBAN, in violation of the constitution’s code of conduct.
On the issue of SiBAN registration, Obinna told Technext that this has always been his top priority because none of the previous presidents have been able to do the same successfully. According to him, this has hindered the body from working with international bodies who were reluctant to work with an unregistered group.
“Now, this will give us the legality and standing to be able to do more with SiBAN, for SiBAN and the industry at large. So, what do they mean when they say that registering SiBAN is illegal? An illegal group of people cannot be pointing out illegality.” he added.
Speaking on his refusal to respond to inquiries, Obinna claimed that this was because the Panel of Inquiry was set up by an illegal group. He added that the establishment of the Panel of Inquiry, Caretaker Committee and the BoT was done without due process and is in violation of the SiBAN constitution.
“Illegality cannot become legal at some point. It’s either it is legal from the beginning or illegal. In this case, it was illegal and unconstitutional from the beginning. You cannot say you’re working on behalf of SIBAN and you’re violating the constitution. It is a contradiction and those are the kind of people parading themselves as BoT and the likes”, he said.
“I am still the duly elected President of Siban and until there’s a process that follows through our constitution, we’re going to make sure that any attempts to subvert the will of the Siban electorate who gave me this mandate will not be permitted and we will continue to abide within the ambit of the law”, he concluded.
According to Chris Ani, the founding Chairman of SiBAN when it launched in 2018 and a member of the BoT, the BoT is constitutionally backed. He stated that there are several letters that Obinna has acknowledged from the Board of Advisors as well as the Board of Trustees.
Also, he recounts that the administration has always encountered bottlenecks in the process of registering with the CAC due to the unclear regulatory landscape. Now, Chris Ani alleges that Obinna has facilitated the registration of a ‘rival association’ due to his relationship with NITDA and SEC.
“We had been clamoring for the registration but he never did that. Until the Panel of Inquiry came on board.” Chris remarks.
Chris Ani also faulted the registration process in the SEC because according to him, the name was supposed to be published in a newspaper for 21 days, but none of those processes was followed.
“It was a backdoor registration.”
“And in our constitution, if you’re going behind to register an association like that, it’s a room for expulsion.”
Chris stated that there are documents to prove their registration application before Obinna and investigations are underway to challenge the process.
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