Barring any last minute change, the Minister of Transportation; Mr Rotimi Amaechi will inaugurate the governing council of the Council of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), in Abuja on Tuesday.
A senior official in the ministry who pleaded to be anonymous, because he is not authorized to speak on the matter confirmed to Shipping Position Daily over the weekend that the inauguration will be conducted by the Minister.
The source also confirmed that after the inauguration, members of the Council would then hold a retreat on Wednesday and then elect their Chairman and Vice Chairman.
Hint of a likely inauguration of the CRFFN Governing Council this week was given by the Founder of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam in a recent exclusive interview with Shipping Position Daily.
The inauguration had been delayed for months following controversies that trailed elections into the Governing Council.
The election was held in July and the five associations, namely: Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders,(NAGAFF), National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agent, (NCMDLCA), Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria, (AREFFN) and National Association of Air Freight Forwarding Consolidators (NAFFAC) participated.
The 15 newly elected officials comprised of six each from NAGAFF and ANLCA and one each from AREFFN, NCMDLCA and NAFFAC.
Before the Council election, President Muhammadu Buhari had late last year appointed six persons into the board. They are: Donatu Ozoemena, Benson Edosomwan, Abubakar Tsanni, Hassan Jonga, Sen. Bisi Oyewo and Otunba Moshood Tijani.
But, after a prolonged silence that trailed the elections and which led to speculations that the minister was not satisfied with the outcome, a letter was written on Thursday inviting the council members.
The rather short invitation was signed by the Registrar of the Council, Sir Mike Jukwe and it reads” On the directive of the Honourable Minister, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, it is with the highest sense of responsibility and humility that you are invited to a meeting with him as follows: Date: Tuesday, 30th October, 2018T, Time: 11am prompt, Venue: Conference Hall, 8th Floor, Federal Ministry of Transportation Headquarters, Central Area, Abuja. “Further details will be communicated to you in due course”.
But, by Saturday, details of the meeting became clearer as Shipping Position Daily was told specifically that apart from the appointees of President Buhari and the freight forwarders who had been elected, the CRFFN Registrar has also invited statutory members of the Governing Council to the Tuesday inauguration and the subsequent retreat on Wednesday.
Expected at the two-day event are: six appointees of the President, 15 elected members and 11 statutory members, which form the 32-member CRFFN Governing Council.
