Veteran film producer, Theophilus Akatugba has emerged the new President of the Association of Nollywood Core Producers (ANCOP).
The election which held in Lagos on March 31st with a bye election on April 8, 2022, also saw Jos, Plateau State-based erudite scholar and Professor of Film Studies, Edward Sani Ossai, PhD, emerging as the Vice President.
Others who emerged from various State chapters as members of the ANCOP NEC 2022 with a two-year tenure in office are: Mr. Bernie Anagbaoso (The Director of Finance), Mrs. Matel Alex-Eyengho (The Treasurer), Mr. Cardoso Olanrewaju (General Secretary), Mr. Umegbewe Eugene Jerome (Director of Publicity) and Mrs. Ibinabo Anne Gad (Director of Welfare). The only position still vacant is that of the Chief Whip, which the incoming NEC have been mandated to sort out.
In his acceptance speech video which has since gone viral, Mr. Akatugba promised to help in further deepening the ANCOP and Nollywood brands both nationally and internationally, even as he called for the cooperation of all and sundry in the association and industry as a whole.
Chairman of the ANCOP EC 2022 and veteran filmmaker, Sir Amayo Uzo Philips of the “Aki na Ukwa” fame, thanked the GA (General Assembly) of ANCOP for allowing them to serve the association in this key ad-hoc committee. He also announced that the Board of Trustees of ANCOP will take up things from this point until the swearing-in ceremony of the incoming ANCOP NEC on April 29, 2022 in Lagos.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the ANCOP BoT, Chief Gabriel Onyi Okoye (Igwe Gabosky) and Secretary, Comrade Alex Eyengho, in a statement, congratulated members of the ANCOP EC 2022 as well as the newly elected officers and urged them to aim higher in positioning the association.
It would be recalled that through the platform of ANCOP, Nigeria, in 2011 became a member of the prestigious International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations (FIAPF); the umbrella body for film producers in the world. Founded in 1933, FIAPF is to filmmaking globally what FIFA is to the game of football.
