Oluyinka Onigbinde
The Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has warned the aggrieved members of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) not to truncate plans to resolve the lingering crises in the association via court injunctions or actions.
This is even as the council has urged all warring factions to attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association scheduled to hold on March 2nd 2023.
The Council, in a statement signed by the Acting Registrar/CEO of CRFFN, Mrs. Chinyere Uromta, stated that seeking court injunctions will amount to a clear violation of the CRFFN Act.
She warned that whosoever embarks on such exercise, “shall face the consequences in line with section 21 sub 3(a) and would be equally made to face a Tribunal in accordance with Section 22 sub 1(a -c).”
The statement noted that the Council had intervened in the ongoing crises in ANLCA in line with inherent powers of the Council as provided for in Section 4(d) of the Councils Act of 2007 which empowered to regulate and control all the associations of freight forwarders.
In the statement, the CRFFN noted that: “We have carefully monitored this ANLCA crisis all along including the fourteen court cases instituted and observed they could not solve the lingering crisis in the association. Hence as a regulator, we have directed the Acting National President to call for the Annual General Meeting of the association which will be monitored and supervised by the Chairman of the Council, Dr. Abubakar Tsanni and the Council’s Acting Registrar in order to have a lasting solution to these crisis.
“However, we wish to warn that any member of the association that attempts to thwart or disrupt this effort of having an AGM to resolve all issues by way of seeking court Injunction is violating the Council’s Act and shall face the consequences in line with section 21 sub 3(a) and would be equally made to face a Tribunal by virtue of Section 22 sub 1(a -c).
“Finally, the Chairman of the Governing Council appeals to all factions to set aside their differences and come for the Annual General Meeting to discuss and find lasting solutions to all issues”, the statement concluded.
It will be recalled that the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria, CRFFN, Dr. Abubakar Tsanni had earlier directed the Acting National President, Dr. Kayode Farinto to convene the Annual General Meeting of the association immediately.
Tsanni also directed that the AGM be held on Thursday 2nd March, 2023 at Oriental Hotels, Lagos by 11.00am, adding that himself and the Acting Registrar, Mrs. Chinyere Uromta would attend the Annual General Meeting to oversee the conduct of the Annual General Meeting.
The Chairman further directed that the composition of the Board of Trustees of the association be nine members. That each of the two aggrieved parties shall nominate four (4) members to serve as their representatives on the Board of Trustees. That the ninth member of the Board of Trustees be elected at the Annual General Meeting, a directive which has since been faulted by a faction of ANLCA led by a factional BOT Chairman, Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha.
