The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has called for the suspension of the payment of the Practitioners’ Operating Fees (POF) following controversies surrounding the remittance of the five percent to freight forwarders and associations by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN).
CRFFN claimed to have remitted a five percent declarant payment for six months to all compliant freight forwarding associations and individuals. However, freight forwarders under the aegis of NAGAFF faulted this claim and insisted that they are yet to receive any payment from CRFFN for over two years of paying POF to the coffers of the Federal government.
This is even as the association has petitioned the Council to be transparent by providing verifiable records on how the funds were disbursed and remitted to appropriate freight forwarders and their associations.
During a visit by the Ministry and Council to the association’s headquarters in Lagos on Tuesday, the founder of NAGAFF, Dr Boniface Aniebonam noted that the Ministry of Transportation is more interested in the collection of POF, because it has to bring revenue to the government and is neglecting the challenges in the freight forwarding industry.
Aniebonam lamented that the CRFFN which is pseudo-agency meant for the regulation and control of the freight forwarding has been hijacked by the federal government.
The founder of NAGAFF specifically alleged that the collection of POF by CRFFN is a fraud as many freight forwarders and even his personal freight forwarding company is yet to receive any payment from the Council since the inception and enforcement of POF payment.
Aniebonam however urged the Federal Ministry of Transportation to ensure the full implementation of the CRFFN Act. He also charged CRFFN to deregister freight forwarding associations who don’t pay their annual dues and registration.
“The Transport Ministry in the guise of working for government has seen the amount involved in the approval and collected the POF. We cannot collect it from them again until the court makes a pronouncement. That is the truth. The Transportation Ministry is more interested in POF, because it has to bring revenue to the government.
“I move cargo. My company is Ocean Star and nobody has paid me one naira in the name of either an individual or corporate. Ocean star is licensed and I am an individual member. So, I don’t know what CRFFN is saying. I think there is a big fraud going on in CRFFN”, he alleged.
Speaking earlier in his opening address, an officer representing the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Mr Solomon D. Zaks informed that the Minister has approved a quarterly visit by the Ministry and Council to freight forwarding associations to monitor their level of compliance to the payment of POF.
Zaks elucidated that the purpose of the visit was to have a close interaction with members of NAGAFF, so that they can air their views and articulate the challenges they face during the course of their activities at the ports.
On his part, the CRFFN Principal Enforcement Officer, Muhammed Rabiu Lawal stated that NAGAFF has the highest number of registered freight forwarders and the payment of POF with the CRFFN.
Lawal however insisted that the Council has paid freight forwarders and associations that have been fully complying five percent of their declared POF payment from 1st of March 2021 to 31st of August 2021. He also noted that 10 percent of the declared POF payments have been allocated for the training of freight forwarders while five percent will be remitted to individuals or associations.
The CRFFN official however explained that many freight forwarders have not been able to get their dividends because they pay and declare their POF with a third party identification. He further stressed that with over 8000 freight forwarders who are registered with the Council, about 4000 have no association attached to their registration in the portal.
Lawal enjoined all freight forwarders to update their information on CRFFN’s portal to avoid been delisted from the Council’s register. He also tasked all associations to compile a list of eligible freight forwarders who are yet to get their own dividends.
Also speaking the National Coordinator of the 100 percent Compliance Team, Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko urged that the payment of POF should be suspended.
