“I do not expect NAGAFF, ANLCA, AREFFN and others who are duly registered by CRFFN to be involved in this election,” Aniebonam says
By Uzor Odigbo
Founder, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, has kicked against the approval of independent candidates by the Transport Ministry to contest in the forthcoming election into the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) calling on the five registered associations to boycott the election.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos on Monday, Aniebonam decried the interference of the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi in the affairs of CRFFN.
He accused the Ministry of hijacking the CRFFN because of the inherent financial gains in the collection of practitioners operating fee even while it has not added any value to the Council.
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The NAGAFF founder therefore called on the leadership of the registered freight forwarding associations to lead a protest to the National Assembly to express their displeasure over the Ministry’s undue control of CRFFN, which he said contravenes the Act setting up the Council.
According to him, the approval for participation of individual candidates in the CRFFN elections has given room to recruitment and registration of non-practitioners in the ongoing registration process.
“The Minister has been eager to take over CRFFN and most likely it is because of the inherent financial aspect of it, probably the port operating fees, otherwise what is his business. The transportation Ministry has NPA, Nigerian Shippers Council, NIWA and others. The Minister has not finished with that so why must he acquire CRFFN?
“I do not expect NAGAFF, ANLCA, AREFFN and others who are duly registered by CRFFN to be involved in this election because we have agreed that this is what we want and that is the essence of regulation.
“I expect the registered freight forwarding associations to protest to the National Assembly and draw their attention to these kind of breaches against the CRFFN Act because that is not the essence of the promulgation of that law.
“To me, the CRFFN election is neither here nor there because all kinds of people are being registered. Even if you want to do an election, there is a list of the last election but it is like they are more interested in the money people are paying.
“Now that the port is having problems, I understand the Registrar of CRFFN is calling the leadership of the various registered associations as regards the issues in the port. Why is he calling them? Why not call the individuals?” he quizzed.
Aniebonam blamed the operational challenges including the recent withdrawal of service by clearing agents over the Vehicle Identification Number introduced by Customs for vehicle clearance on the inadequacies of CRFFN, which ought to protect their interest.
He also berated the Customs for failing to consult with the leadership of the freight forwarding associations before implementing the VIN valuation policy.
“If CRFFN is effective and working well, this withdrawal of service will not go on. The people you are dealing with at the port, to what extent are they positioned to do their job? That is the duty of CRFFN to impact knowledge and skill. They should be able to interpret Customs when it is talking but what you discover is that Customs is talking, the freight forwarders are talking a different thing which means there is a communication gap,” he said