• NIA lauds works ministry’s intervention
• Group accuses minister of partisanship
The Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) and the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) are enmeshed in another dispute following the inability of both parties to play by the rules governing the architecture profession.
The Guardian learned trouble started when efforts were made to manipulate nominations to ARCON council and litigation was instituted by members of the architecture profession seeking to stop the inauguration, which led to the cancellation of the inauguration last year.
The composition of the council has seen several changes. Today, all the states and the Federal Capital Territory, NIA, accredited schools of architecture and supervisory ministry are represented. Section 2 (2) of the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria Act, Cap A19 L.F.N 2004 provides for the constitution of a 49-member council.
Essentially, the current dispute has grounded activities of the council, led to the establishment of a transition management committee and plans to organise the 2022 Colloquium for architects in May and undertake Architects Professional Competency Evaluation (APCE) Exercise.
The ministry cancelled the committee plans to undertake some of the functions that are core functions of the council through directive signed by the Permanent Secretary, Bashir Nura Alkali, for the Minister, Babatunde Fashola, saying “such conducts are clearly not only in violation of their enabling statute but could also attract criminal sanctions.”
The minister urged the committee to refrain forthwith from all activities which constitute statutory functions of the Council as enumerated in Section 2 (1) (a-c) of the Act until a new properly constituted Council is in place; only oversee the routine administrative management of the council until a new properly constituted one is in place.
Fashola advised the committee to intensify efforts to reconcile the warring factions to embrace dialogue in resolving issues leading to the stagnation of the profession rather than engage in needless litigation that created the current impasse, and ensures that the issues are speedily and amicably resolved in the best interest of the architecture profession.
NIA President, Mr. Enyi Ben-Eboh, told The Guardian that the minister’s directive was a welcome development and ‘a reset button of sorts.” He also appealed to members, who have been working at cross purposes to retrace their steps.
Ben-Eboh said: “ The current turn of events was triggered by the intrigues around the botched inauguration of the ARCON council in December 2021. In February, we had cause to write to the Minister of Works and Housing, seeking expedited inauguration in view of the pivotal role it plays in the registration of architects and architectural firms.
“We later found out the inauguration would not hold until an injunction filed by a rival association of ARCON’s creation was dispensed with by the courts. The hearing was initially fixed by April 5, 2022; it was not heard and further adjourned to June 28.
“The next day, ARCON released an advert calling for candidates to apply for the APCE, which we saw as a show of bad faith and step in the wrong direction, considering the fact that there was no council in place as required by law.
“Consequently, we directed our lawyers to write ARCON to withdraw the advert, citing areas where they had contravened the Act.
“ARCON cannot accuse NIA of not properly constituting its education board on account of which the September 2016, March 2017 and September 2017 examinations of the institute were discredited while going ahead to do the same thing.
“ARCON lawyers wrote, insisting that it had the right and go ahead with the evaluation. The processes were set in motion by NIA to challenge actions in court and approach the supervising minister to wade into the issue, the rest is now history.”
However, the Association of Nigerian Chartered Architects (ANCA) in a statement said the ministry introduced a foreign body into the Act with what they tagged the management committee.
“By introducing the term, the intention is to ridicule the work of the council as specified in the provisions of Section 1(5) of the 1st Schedule to the Act,” ANCA said.
The group is a joint statement signed by Chair, BoT, Justus Okah-Avae, President, Monoyosore Omatsone and National Secretary, ‘Koye Jolaoso, who said the action of the ministry constitutes a great setback to architecture and the built environment.
“By declaring all actions of the council now being carried out by President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Registrar, ultra vires, until the cases in the courts are disposed of, the ministry has grounded the progress of the architecture profession for as many years, as it will take the judiciary to resolve the cases. This could not have been in the contemplation of the Act.”
They stated that the architectural family, especially their members have been deprived, and incurred losses and general damages.
