Founder of
the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr
Boniface Aniebonam, at the weekend blamed the Nigerian Shippers’
Council (NSC)
of being responsible for the failure of the Council for the Regulation of
Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to carry out a successful registration of
freight forwarders in the country.
Speaking
during a roundtable discussion with members of the Association of Maritime
Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON) in Lagos, he alleged that the Council helped the
Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA)with the first election
that produced eight members of ANLCA in the Governing Council of CRFFN.
According to
him, since ANLCA had majority seat in
the Council, it decided to turn the regulatory agency to its personal affairs.
He, however, maintained that CRFFN is not an arm of the
Federal Government, but rather an independent organization.
Aniebonam
explained that plans are under way to amend the law establishing the
Council to enable the president appoint the chairman of the board.
“From the
first election, they (NSC) helped other
groups to with the election. That was
how members from the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents produced
eight members in the Governing Council and they decided to turn it an ANLCA
affair.
“Are you
aware that they have decided to amend the CRFFN Act so as to enable Mr.
President appoint the head of the board?,” he asked.
Aniebonam
said that the planned withdrawal of service by freight forwarders would be shelved afterwards.
Recall that
both ANLCA and NAGAFF had given 21 days ultimatum to the government to address
the issue of corruption in the sector.
According to Sun news report; He believed that the continuous engagements
with the government on the matter could
yield the desired results rather than withdrawing services of their members.
“Most of the
issues and questions are based on how we can make our ports system to be
better. “We have issues with the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Ports
Authority (NPA), terminal operators among others,” he added
On the
arrest of containers by the police outside the customs ports, the NAGAFF
founder agreed that the police have
wider powers to make arrests whenever they suspect a foul play to undermine
security of the country.
He called on
the agents and their importers to always
do the right thing.
On the proposed customs e-auction policy,
Aniebonam advised that the service should seek to amend the Auctioneers Act,
before implementing the new e-auction policy to avoid conflict of interests and
litigation.
However, when
Daily Sun contacted the Executive Secretary of Shippers Council, Barrister
Hassan Bello, who is currently outside the country, he agreed that Shippers council midwifed the
election of CRFFN at that time—about 10 years ago—– but did not influence any election.
“That is
what Boniface Aniebonam is talking about” he said.
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