ARFFN STRONGLY AGAINST 6:6:1:1:1 SHARING FORMULA—- LAWAN BALA DAURA
By Mcanthony ONUOHA
The dust being raised by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria-CRFFN, planned election into its Governing Board is yet to settle.
Protestations by some groups against the 6:6:1:1:1 sharing formula proposed by two out of the five CRFFN Accredited Associations have continued unappeased .
Alhaji Lawan Bala Daura, National President of Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria- ARFFN, spoke to The Prestige Blended Magazine recently on a telephony interview, he said that his group would never be part of an arrangement he described as selfish and undemocratic, he went further to lambast Freight Forwarders Consultative Forum for trying to rubbish the credibility of the Council.
According to the National President of ARFFN, ” those proposing 6:6:1:1:1 as sharing formula in the forthcoming Council election are mere Jokers, the Council can not keep progressing in error. It is not a private enterprise and any person or group that would want to impose leadership on the rest of us shall be vehemently resisted”.
ALHAJI LAWAN BALA DAURA, NATIONAL PRESIDENT, ARFFN
“I am not afraid of anybody and l will always want things to be done in the right way, l will never be part of that conspiracy. For ANLCA and NAGAFF to arrogate to themselves 6 seats each is an aberation in this present dispensation, they should have known that ARFFN has grown in numerical strength, not only that, six of my members purchased the interest declaration forms at N500,000,00 each, and after buying the forms, some people somewhere came up with very selfish and unpopular sharing formula just to shortchange others while as there are provisions for individuals and corporate bodies”.
“And my question in this whole drama is, what happens to those who has staked their hard earned money to purchase forms? Is CRFFN now institutionalizing deceit or is it trying to be fraudulent ? I know that the Management of the Council, for integrity sake, will not allow such thing to happen”.
Alhaji Lawan Bala Daura, went further to disclose the outcome of the meeting held on the 27th of September, 2021, by Joint Freight Forwarders Association , Eastern Zone, of which the Executives of all the five accredited Associations in attendance, came up with strong worded communique that went a long way to show that the Eastern Zone has a varied stance on the CRFFN election. The communique stated as follows: (1), The East shall be ready to participate in the election in any centralized venue the organizing Committee shall approve in Nigeria outside Lagos.
(2), If the organizing body decides to decentralize the election venue to Lagos in the West, the same shall be in the East simultaneously.
(3), That the five members provided in the Constitution for the East must be resident practicing Freight Forwarders in the Eastern Zone.
(4), That the Eastern Zone shall resist imposition of candidates not resident in the East by any guise for the purpose of election based on the provision of the Act.
Meanwhile, in a meeting held by the five accredited Associations at Rockview Hotel and Suites, Apapa, on the 11th of October, 2021, where the leadership of the groups insisted on the 6:6:1:1:1, sharing formula, the ARFFN was represented by its Former National President, Dr. Frank Ukor. Speaking to journalists, Ukor said he attended in his capacity as the founder of the Association. But in a swift reaction, Alhaji Lawan said that Dr. Ukor went there on his own and did not represent the interest of the group since he is neither the President nor the secretary. In a tone that depicted anger, Lawan vowed that his group would NOT accept the proposed 6:6:1:1:1 sharing formula, insisting that every individual that has purchased form for the election should be given a level playing field to contest, as it is the only way the Council can retain its credibility.
