Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, Alhaji Abdulahi Diko Inde has assured the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) of collaboration in the Council’s efforts to sanitize the cargo clearance procedure in Nigerian ports.
The Customs boss who acknowledged that a lot still needed to be done in building integrity in the nation’s port system told members of the CRFFN on Tuesday in Abuja that the process of cargo clearance is being fine-tuned by the Customs and that the efforts of the Council in this direction will be appreciated and supported by the Service.
The CRFFN delegation which was led by the Council’s chairman, Alhaji Hakeem Olanrewaju also had the vice chairman, Dr Sam Onyemelukwe and national president, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu, his counterparts from the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Mr Eugene Nweke and the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, Mr Festus Ejiofor, and other members of the Council who are licensed customs agents.
The Customs CG told his visitors that clearing and forwarding is being done the wrong way in Nigeria and assures that every effort that is aimed at ensuring that sanity prevails in the cargo clearance procedure.
“You must educate your people, because you are their leaders, it is not everyone that you see in the port that is a clearing agent”, he told his visitors, even as he acknowledged that the problems in the ports is traceable to both the customs officers and the licensed customs agents.
Affirming the legal right of the Nigeria Customs Service over licensed customs agent, Dikko stressed that it is only when a company is licensed by the Nigeria Customs Service that it can practice, but he also promised that there would be a working arrangement between the Customs and the CRFFN to ensure that there is no clash of interests and jurisdiction between the two agencies.
Earlier, the registrar of the council, Sir Mike Jukwe had called the attention of the Customs boss to Section 19 (1) and (2) of the CRFFN which deal with issuance of license to any license customs agents and stressed that “the role of Customs is quite distinct to that of the CRFFN, but they are complimentary. Whereas, the CRFFN registers all freight forwarders, the Customs license their agents who are also freight forwarders”.
To buttress the position of CRFFN and underscore the need for harmony and collaboration between the Council and Nigeria Customs Service, the CRFFN chairman, Alhaji Olanrewaju also seized the opportunity of the visit to reiterate that the council is placing premium on training of its members and added that all those who were registered last year are going to be retrained.
According to him, the council would train so that its registered members can imbibe integrity and best practices in their daily activities.
The Customs CG was joined to receive the CRFFN delegation by the top echelon of the service including the four deputy comptrollers general and many assistant comptrollers general.
The CRFFN governing council members were in Abuja for the council’s first meting where sensitive decision about the council are expected to be taken.
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