Contrary to insinuations that the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (CRFFN) has entered into an agreement with freight forwarding associations on how to share proceeds from the controversial practicing fees which is to be collected from the port, the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has dissociated itself from any such arrangement.
Contrary to insinuations that the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (CRFFN) has entered into an agreement with freight forwarding associations on how to share proceeds from the controversial practicing fees which is to be collected from the port, the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has dissociated itself from any such arrangement.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Shipping Position Daily at its national secretariat on Monday, ANLCA President; Prince Olayiwola Shittu debunked the insinuations, saying that neither he nor any of his executives have sat down in any meetings to discuss collection of practicing fees.
Shittu explained that rather, what the associations have been engaging the Council on is to receive its blessings to go ahead and collect fees from association members in form of dues.
“The associations are supposed to collect fees from their members as dues, every associations does it, trade unions do it, it is in the Act that whatever those dues are going to be must be certified by the Council, if any association collects money from its members, the Council needs to give approval, it is at this stage that we are still at, we are having meetings to see how we can unify collection of money from our members”.
“Once the council approves, we that are associations are even supposed to assist the council, we have already told the council how some regulatory agencies are assisted by the associations under them, the meeting is not to share money, how can you share what you don’t have?” he asked.
According to Shittu, the collection of practicing fees is a case that is still in court and hence nobody can go ahead and collect moneys under that nomenclature.
He explained that once the associations get the CRFFN certification to collect their dues from their members, the moneys will be expended according to the mandate of its members.
“We have mandate from our members on how the money is going to be expended, there are rules, and we have constitution, so also the Council Act”, he explained further.
“Giving the impression that all CRFFN is after is to collect practicing fees is very far from the truth, I as the president of ANLCA or my executive officers have never sat down anywhere to discuss the sharing of money”.
Speaking on the meetings he has so far attended, he said one was called by the immediate past chairman of the governing council, Alhaji Hakeem Olanrewaju where former council members were asked to see what they can do to assist the council to wake up.
“This is a welcomed development because the council belongs to all of us, and there and then there was no time we discussed how to collect money and be sharing, I have a mail here on the amount to be collected by CRFFN, its specifically registration fee, subscription fees, licensing fee and that’s all” he cleared.
On the recent elections backlash at the association’s western zone, he told Shipping Position Daily that the since the final elections were conducted, the association has been talking to some of its aggrieved members.
Shittu confirmed that the Board of Trustees (BoT) has since held three different meetings with the aggrieved parties and that peace has returned into the association.
“We have been talking to ourselves; the board has been coming, since after the election they have been here more than three times, they are even coming this week as part of the same process” Prince Shittu confirmed.
He continued that, “some of the people who have shouted the loudest in the papers are the same people who have turned round to say it is because nobody was talking to them, but you don’t just heat up the polity because you lost an election”.
“Some of the people who lost now have won before and there was no controversy, but now if the process followed does not favor you, then you leave to fight another day”.
“One thing that people don’t know about election is that it should not be a do or die affair, a winner must emerge, if you know that you were cheated and you know what your opponent used to cheat you then you guide against it in future if you are interested in the welfare of that association” he said.
He said that the association over time has overcome many challenges and intrigues, and that the western zone election only became controversial because the association had insisted that enough is enough of godfatherism.
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