By Uzor Odigbo
Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola has ordered the relocation of Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria(CRFFN) back to Lagos
Checks at the ministry informed that the recent directive by the minister to the Acting Registrar of the Council, Chinyere Uromta, is aimed at bringing the council closer to its area of operation and reducing cost of day to day running of the council.
Many travels between Lagos and Abuja have fritrered the council’s lean resources which it’s present collection cannot sustain.
CRFFN headquarters that was in Lagos was moved to Abuja recently in a controversial manner that has resulted in the fretting away of the lean resources of the organisation as a result of travels from Abuja to Lagos by it’s officials.
The council which has been unable to clear about five months salary arrears and numerous duty tour allowances(DTA) of staff has also been grappling with low staff morale following it’s removal from budgetary allocation by the President Bola Tinubu administration.
Since the Council was removed from federal government allocation, it is solely dependent of Internally Generated Revenue which 40% is deducted at source in favour of Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of Government. This 40% remittance to CRF has been reviewed upward to 50% of IGR effective 1st January 2024.
According to Journal.NG, under the Acting Registrar, the Practitioners Operating Fee(POF) said to be CRFFN major revenue source has dropped to an all time low averaging below N30m every month.
Meanwhile, the monthly wage bill of N47m per month to cover for workers salaries has not been paid for February March, April, May and June 2024 and other allowabces are being owed.
Over N900m budgeted for the council by the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration for the purchase of a headquarters building in Lagos as at 2022 has not been used for the procurement
