APFFLON ACCUSES THE REGISTRAR OF CRFFN AND HIS TEAM OF COMPROMISE
By Mcanthony Onuoha
Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria-APFFLON, has berated the Management of Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria-CRFFN, accusing them of compromise.
OTUNBA FRANK OGUNOJEMITE, NATIONAL PRESIDENT OF APFFLON
The group in a press release signed by its National President, Otunba Frank Ogunojemite, and made available to the Prestige Blended Magazine,statesd that the evidences of compromise on the part of the management of Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria- CRFFN are there for everyone to see.
BARR. SAM NWAKOHU , REGISTRAR, CRFFN
Theaccusation was triggered by the invitation of leaders of associations and their secretaries by the Registrar of CRFFN to a meeting slated for Wednesday, the 10th of November 2021(today) of which other two categories recognized by Section 4 of the Council’s Act were denied invitation.
Part of the press release reads, “APFFLON is shocked by the body language of the Management of the Council which is roundly suggestive of complicity in the lingering commotion triggered by the proposed sharing formula for the CRFFN anticipated election”.
“The Registrar of the Council, in a letter dated 02/11/2021,and exclusively copied to leaders of Associations, strictly inviting them and their secretaries to a meeting slated for 10th of November, 2021, at Rockview Hotel and Suites Apapa, is a clear evidence that the management is in full support of the infamous 6:6:1:1:1 formula”.
“It is very clear that Section 4, of the CRFFN Act, recognizes three categories of membership, namely, Associations, Corporate bodies and individuals, and if it is so,why then did the Management of the Council not extend invite to the other two categories?”
“This and other deliberate infractions on the part of the management makes one to begin to doubt the neutrality of the Registrar and his team in the unpopular arrangement ‘.
Continuing, the group stated that, “sidelining Corporate bodies and individuals by not inviting them to meetings strongly negates that very section of the Act that provides that those three categories shall populate the Council.”
“APFFLON hereby State unequivocally, that the present CRFFN management is increasingly casting itself in bad light as emerging facts have clearly shown that the Council itself is the bane of robust freight forwarding practice in Nigeria, on that note, we hereby call on the Honourable Minister to closely watch the activities of the Council as it needs to be sanitized because as it stands, the integrity of the management is in serious doubt.”
“The question remains, why would they invite associations without considering other stakeholders ? That singular act is not only dubious, it is a clear violation of Section 4 of the Act, and therefore questions the integrity of its management.”
“Flouting the Federal Ministry of Transportation’s directives on the election of members into the Council, by the present Management of the Council justifies our call for immediate removal of the management as they are no longer fit to participate in the forthcoming election, otherwise the entire process will be jeopardized and the efforts of the Honourable Minister to transform the industry will be bastardized as well”.
It further stated that “We call on the Honourable Minister to take a firm stand to save the industry and not allow any individual or cartel to dictate or wrongly advise him against his resolution to carry out proper and in-depth reformation of the sector because Nigeria deserves to be among the comity of robust Maritime nations.”
Recall that APFFLON has been in the vanguard of a strong agitation for the recognition and inclusion of the other two categories that made up the membership of the Council in decision making and electoral provisions.
