Ace-singer, Pretty Okafor Emerges PMAN President

Ace singer, Pretty Okafor, has been re-elected as the president of The Performing Musicians Employers’ Association Of Nigeria (PMAN).

Okafor was announced as the winner of the election by the electoral chairman on Tuesday with a total vote of 50 — after contesting unopposed.

The election was held during the PMAN’s national conference held in Lagos.

In a post-election statement, Okafor, who was first elected PMAN’s president in October 2016, said he initially did not want to contest for the position.

He said he, however, changed his mind after some state chapters purchased the form for him.

“Actually, I didn’t want to re-contest as PMAN President, but I changed my mind when some state chapters, five of them, purchased a form for me and insisted I must run for another term,” he said.

“The whole thing became an issue when I resisted the pressure to run, and more so when the general secretary told them that I had since submitted documents that I was not going to re-contest.

“The reason for this is that my personal business is growing and I need time to pay more attention to it.

“But when I found out that members were almost fighting each other to make me re-contest, I decided to put my personal business aside, believing that the interest of PMAN is greater than my personal interest.

“In fact, when it was time for the election, all the state chapters’ chairmen practically dragged me into the hall, some were even in tears, and they refused to sit down until I announced my decision to re-contest.

“And to cap it all, there was no election in the real sense of it, it was more of an adoption than an election.

“I think the reason they decided to bring me back as PMAN President is because of my achievements over the years. They were all surprised that nothing like this had ever happened in PMAN.

“For PMAN to have a solid structure, radio station and other businesses like hotels was a big surprise to them. So, it was hard for them to let me go.”

Others who were re-elected include Sunny Neji as the 1st vice president, Zaaki Azzay as 2nd vice president, Baba J.F.O as treasurer, and Michael ‘Ruggedman’ Stevens as chairman of the media committee ex officio.

Also re-elected are Boniface Itodo (Aitabonny) as general secretary and Fada Bem Paul (Bempee) as assistant general secretary.

Aralola Sherifat Olamuyiwa has been appointed as the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria’s (PMAN) governor, Lagos chapter. pic.twitter.com/cbZv8abSPv

Lola Olamuyiwa, the drummer, was sworn in as the new governor of PMAN in Lagos. She was also issued a certificate of return.

PMAN is an organisation founded by Christy Essien-Igbokwe and Sunny Okosun in 1984 to guide, protect and promote the interests of musicians in Nigeria.