Palpable fear has enveloped freight forwarding associations as the Council for the Regulations of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) said it is set to sanction any associations that is defaulting in payment of annual subscription fees.
Findings by our correspondent revealed that about 95% of the freight forwarding associations which include: the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFFN), National Association of Airfreight Forwarders and Cargo Consolidators (NAFFAC), among others, are owing the CRFFN.
This made the Chairman CRFFN, Abubakar Tsanni threaten to sanction any association that is yet to pay its annual subscription up to date with the council.
Our correspondent gathered that the annual subscription fee owed by the different associations in the industry is up to the tune of about N280 Million since the commencement of the council in 2010 about 13 years ago.
The chairman of the governing Council in a recent chat with our correspondent had stated that section 40 of the CRFFN Act gave powers to the Council to control all the associations, stating that had it been the associations know the value of being with the CRFFN, there are a lot of benefits they will enjoy
He however said when the Council Tribunal is set up, the CRFFN will clean up the industry of all defaulting associations. This is even as he stated that any new association planning to register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) must first get a clearance from the Council before doing so.
“We wrote to all of them and we are also writing to all of them, any association that did not register with the CRFFN will be deregistered. Any association that is not qualified to be an association will also be deregistered. In the law, there are some qualifications to become an association such as an operational office and the likes.
“There are some associations that are just names. They don’t even have any office in Lagos, talk-less of other states and they still maintain the name of an accredited association. We cannot deceive ourselves. We are just waiting to have a very active and effective Registrar and Tribunal. We would see that all these things will be no more. Many people will carry their bags and run back to the village. You can’t carry or bear a name that does not belong to you. The right thing should be done” he said.
Reacting to the plan to sanction freight forwarding associations over unpaid annual subscriptions, some executives of the freight forwarding associations who spoke to our correspondent agreed that it is within the purview of the Council to sanction freight forwarding associations, while some stated that they are already making plans to pay the annual subscription.
Speaking, the National Secretary of the ANLCA, Babatunde Mukaila when asked how much the association is owing the Council on the annual subscription fee said, “I can’t independently verify that, I will need to ask the Financial Secretary and the Treasurer to confirm. Having said that, I think it is within the purview and the right of the Council to collect annual subscription fees from the associations, so we would look at it, if we are owing, we will pay” he assured.
On his part, the Deputy National President (Air and Logistics) of NAGAFF Dr Segun Musa also couldn’t confirm whether or not NAGAFF is owing, he however said there is need for CRFFN as a body to be transparent.
He however asked the Council to come to the table with clean hands by declaring how much they have made so far and that, compliance will be easy for associations and members to follow.
“People are avoiding to comply because there is no transparency in CRFFN, we don’t know how much CRFFN has made up to date. If you want members to comply with directive, CRFFN needs to come to equity with clean hands.
“Let CRFFN start from their own side, let them comply, let them tell us how much they’ve made and it will be easy for the associations and members to comply” he said.
Reacting also, the national president NAFFAC, Mr. Adeyinka Bakare said that it is within the CRFFN’s right to demand annual subscriptions from associations. He stated that part of the condition given to the associations for accreditation was the annual payment of subscription fee, while urging the freight forwarding associations to pay the fee in order to avoid sanctions.
He said: “CRFFN accredited the associations and one of the conditions of letter of accreditation is that a particular amount should be paid as annual subscription fee, just like companies and individual that were being registered by CRFFN. So, to some extent they have the right to go query the associations whatsoever”.
He further explained that the annual subscription fee is graded into Categories A, B and C. Category A according to him includes NAGAFF and ANLCA, category B include NAFFAC and AREFFN, while Category C has the National Council for Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA).
Speaking also, the Secretary of NCMDLCA, Mr. Festus Ukwu urged the CRFFN not to rush into sanctioning associations, he said the association are already making plans to offset the backlog of subscription fees owed. “We will look into it, yes we are owing, but the CRFFN should not rush to sanction associations, all associations are owing and plans are already in place to begin to pay” he said.
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