It is a tradition within one of the foremost professional bodies in Nigeria, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), that its calendar year runs for 12 months. This practice also applies to all its District Societies across the country.
On 30th May 2026, the Lekki and District Society (LEDS), in keeping with this tradition, held its Annual General Meeting to close the current calendar year and pave the way for a new Chairman and a new Chairmanship year.
During the AGM, Mr. Patrick Akamiokhor, FCA, enumerated his achievements for the outgoing year. The full speech is presented below.
CHAIRMAN SPEECH AT 4TH AGM ICAN LEKKI & DISTRICT SOCIETY ON MAY 30, 2026
My dear Professional Colleagues, it is with great pleasure I welcome you all to our 4th Annual general meeting holding today the 30th day of May 2026. As you are aware every district Chairman presides over one AGM. That is exactly what I am doing today because this Chairmanship year ends on 31st May 2026 which is tomorrow.
In the last 12 months of being in the saddle of Chairmanship, we have worked together graciously to take LEDS to higher level. Stated below are our modest achievements during the year which I believe my successor will build up.
1) The District Office: We employed a staff and have reasonably equipped the office. The office is now fully functional and members are encouraged to make use of the office. We have also subletted a section of the office to one of our members. A second member has already applied for a space which is being processed by the project committee.
2) We undertook to produce a quarterly journal for the district. We have successfully produced two editions which apart from carrying the lectures from our monthly technical sessions, also contain insightful articles that will greatly improve our knowledge base. The journal is designed to be self sustaining. Please help to sustain its production by advertising in it, write articles and also buy copies for yourself and friends.
3) We had a retreat for the Executive members of the district in September 2025. The retreat was to help us do a SWOT analysis of the district and see where we want to be in 5 years’ time. One of the several outcomes of the retreat was for us to apply to host the western Zonal Conference in 2030. This we have done and we may likely be given 2031. It may appear far but we should start planning towards the hosting soonest.
4) Catch Them Young: This is one Programme where we exceeded our target. We planned to cover 12 Schools in this Chairmanship year but we ended up doing 16 Secondary Schools. It is unlikely that any district of ICAN has ever achieved this feat. Mr Kayode Olanrewaju FCA, the Chairman of Kayron International School also instituted an award of N100,000 for the school that comes first during the Project Fame Competition at the district level and N50,000 for the students of the same School who participated in the competition. Coincidentally, Kayron International School took first during the competition and took the prize.
5) Membership Drive. Our membership drive was in top gear during the Chairmanship year. The membership Committee participated fully in the two inductions of Associates and one (1) Conferment of Fellows. Our membership is now in excess of 500 and we have applied to the Institute to upgrade our district to Category B. We are presently in Category C.
6) Courtesy Visit: We were able to pay 5 (five) quality Courtesy visits during the year. This is one (1) Short of the Six we originally planned to do. The Courtesy visits to Enterprise Development Centre (EDC), The Candel at Free Trade Zone and PAU require a lot of follow-up for the great benefits that are available. We should as a district keep this relationships, alive.
7) Participation in ICAN National and Zonal activities: We improved greatly in the participation levels in AAC and Western Zonal Conference. The Institute wrote a letter to us to acknowledge our active participation in the AAC and we got a reasonable participation income from the Western Zone for our active participation in the Western Zonal Conference. Let us keep it.
8) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): We did this satisfactorily at Abraham Adesanya HFP Shopping Complex where our office is located. If we have the resource, I will recommend we do this twice a year: October 1st and early January or May 1st.
9) Technical Sessions and Mentorship. This ran Successfully throughout the year. We may however, need to review the mentorship programme for better result.
10) Trainings and Webinars: We were only able to organize one (1) Webinar during the year as against three expected. However, the quality of the one we organized and the high level of attendance are things of joy. We can always build upon the recorded achievement.
I must immensely thank all members of the LEDS who worked tiredlessly during this Chairmanship year in the various Committees. Please always remember that this district belongs to all of us and we must do everything humanly possible to make it work.
Thanks
Patrick Asese Akamiokhor FCA
Chairman LEDS 2025/2026