Registrar of the Freight Forwarders Academy of Nigeria (FFAN); Mr Joseph Anabaraonye has alleged that the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) is scheming to dominate the governing council of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN)
Registrar of the Freight Forwarders Academy of Nigeria (FFAN); Mr Joseph Anabaraonye has alleged that the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) is scheming to dominate the governing council of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN)
Anabaraonye noted that ANLCA is currently in court not to challenge the legality of collecting the controversial Practitioners Operations Fee (POF), but it is seeking election into the board of CRFFN, so that her members can dominate the Council and determine how the POF will be shared.
In an interview with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos yesterday, the FFAN Registrar said that the CRFFN had shot itself in the foot, adding that the Council has no business in deliberating the sharing of the POF with the associations in the first place.
Speaking on the stand of ANLCA, he said "ANLCA is not pursuing the main issue, they are pursuing their parochial interest, they feel that if election is conducted into the CRFFN they have the capacity to dominate membership of the board, if this happens, they will be in the position to determine who gets what"
"ANLCA is not saying that POF should stop or should not be collected, but what they are saying is that election should be conducted first, they will come in and determine how the money will be shared, so the main issue for them is the sharing formula" he alleged.
While faulting claims by ANLCA that the CRFFN can not collect POF without the board constituted, Anabaraonye argued that the board of an organization does not determine its existence. According to him, the fact that there is no board does not mean it cannot carry out its functions.
He likened the situation in the CRFFN to what is happening at the various ministries where President Muhammadu Buhari has dissolved the board of all parastatals.
He said it is the management of the parastatals that are currently involved in the day-to -day running of the agencies and not the board
"Notwithstanding, as a law abiding citizen, when a matter is in court, what everybody should do is return to status quo and stop every collection until it is resolved. If ANLCA had gone to court to contest the legality of the money it could have stand"
"70% of people who hold licenses are not members of ANLCA and it is not automatic to be a member by virtue of your license"
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