About 181 days equivalent of six months and still counting, after the expiration of the tenure of Barrister Sam Nwakohu on January 31, 2023, the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) is yet to appoint a substantive registrar.
The failure is already raising concerns among stakeholders despite calls for qualified candidates to apply for the position since February, the Council is yet to appoint a substantive registrar.
The delay, Shipping Position Daily gathered has sparked speculations about the involvement of political interests in the appointment process. This is even as the Chairman of the CRFFN Governing Council, Abubakar Tsanni, has remained tight-lipped about the reasons behind the prolonged delay in appointing a new registrar, since Nwakohu’s exit.
Sources close to the matter suggest that the delay could be attributed to the unresolved question of whether the Minister of Transportation should have a say in selecting the new registrar. It is alleged that the impending appointment of a Minister has further heightened the uncertainty
Among those believed to be influencing the decision are the Chairman of the Governing Council, Abubakar Tsanni, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani. The two influential figures according to sources allegedly support different candidates for the position, leading to a stalemate in the selection process.
During a conversation with our correspondent, the CRFFN Chairman, when asked about the delay, simply replied: “Council, Council, Council, I don’t have anything to say, I don’t want ‘wahala’,” indicating the sensitivity of the matter and the underlying tension.
Checks by our correspondent revealed that the situation worsened when the Council failed to conduct interviews for those who had applied and who came forward upon invitation for interview in April, but were not interviewed.
The candidates who flew down to Abuja from different parts of the country, were not attended to; this has further prolonged the uncertainty surrounding the appointment process.
Reacting to the delay in the appointment of a substantive registrar, Frank Ogunojemite, the President of the Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON), accused the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transportation; Dr Magdalene Ajani of deliberately stalling the recruitment process. He suggested that reducing the number of governing members of the CRFFN could potentially lead to a more efficient and successful Council.
He said, “It is a deliberate action on the part of the Permanent Secretary for us not to have got a registrar in the Council, because she is the one that truncated the recruitment process, and we do not know her interest in getting a registrar for the Council and that is why I raised an opinion that the numbers of the political governing members of the Council should be drastically reduced because they do not represent the interest of how the industry should be successful, and without the proper Council we won’t have proper recognition in the maritime sector”.
Adding to the complexities, a freight forwarder and former member of the CRFFN Consultative Forum, Chidi Anthony Opara highlighted that the absence of a functioning CRFFN Governing Board is a major obstacle to appointing a substantive Registrar. He noted that the dissolution of the board, except for agencies explicitly mentioned in the Presidency’s dissolution order, has raised questions about the authority to make crucial appointments like the registrar’s role.
Adding another dimension to the apprehension, he said, “the major reason for this is that the Governing Board of CRFFN have been dissolved like the boards of other government owned agencies and companies with the exception of those in the part of the constitution referenced in the Presidency’s dissolution order which CRFFN Governing Board isn’t among. The Ministry of Transportation on their website lists CRFFN as one of the agencies under its jurisdiction”.
“The chairman and majority of the members are nominated by government and must be inaugurated by the Minister of Transportation (an official of government) before they can function. Moreover, there is a subsisting judicial pronouncement that CRFFN is a government agency. The reason the freight forwarding subsector is still waiting for the CRFFN Governing Board to appoint a substantive Registrar is because of the dearth of necessary credible information in the subsector” he argued.
