• Ministerial Appointees Exit From Governing Council?
• Elections of Chairman , Vice May Hold in September
The lingering face-off between the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) and some aggrieved freight forwarders under the aegis of the Central Working Committee of Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (CWCFFN) over on-going documents’ verification exercise has taken a dramatic turn; following facts which emerged last week that the Minister of Transport, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman may have wielded the big stick.
Sources close to the ministry confirmed to our correspondent that opponents of the verification exercise have capitalised on their relationship with the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Capt. Adamu Biu to penetrate the ministry and cause its top officials to instigate the latest action.
Specifically, our correspondent learnt last week that Capt Biu met with the permanent secretary in the ministry, Dr Edugie Abebe and it was at the meeting that the decision to wield the big stick without necessarily stopping the verification exercise was reached.
“It was a compromise of sort, because the ministry did not see anything wrong in the verification exercise, but felt bad that a meeting that was called recently by the Shippers’ Council to resolve the matter was boycotted the CRFFN”.
Shipping Position Weekly also confirmed that the first set of casualties will be the five members of the Council who were appointed by the former minister, Alhaji Ibrahim Isa Bio in exercise of his statutory powers as enshrined inn the CRFFN Act.
Although, none of them has been given any disengagement letter, at least two confirmed the development go our correspondent, but denied receipt of any letter or ministerial order.
It was also gathered that the duo of the chairman and the vice chairman who were elected about two years ago will also leave office by end of this month, unless the minister directs them to stay on, pending when fresh elections will hold.
However, a clearer picture emerged on Friday when the Council’s chairman, Mr Tony Nwabunike confirmed to our correspondent that the five ministerial appointees are expected to leave the governing council this week.
Mr Nwabunike who stated that the bone of contention which is the verification exercise was progressing very well also added that himself and his deputy are also expected to vacate office by the end of August, 2010.
“Verification is going on very well in Port Harcourt, Kano and Abuja. As a matter of fact, almost all the 320 freight forwarders who applied in Port Harcourt have all come forward; about 90 per cent of those in Kano have already complied. In Lagos, as at last Thursday, we had checked about 175”, he disclosed, even as he explained that there has been a steady rise in the number since it started on Tuesday, “remember, it is in alphabetical order”, he stated.
But, the Shippers’ Council boss has assured also that the rift will soon be over. Biu gave the assurance while answering questions at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja last week.
He confirmed that the CWCFFN and the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) are indeed in locked in battle with the CRFFN over the verification exercise.
“They feel aggrieved; they started sending text messages and letters to the Hon. Minister and to my humble self and some of my senior colleagues, complaining,’’ he said
Biu confirmed that he had spoken with the Minister of Transport, and that he (minister) will soon give directives on what steps should be taken to resolve the issue.
He said the council, which had been existing for two years with its term ending “in the first week of August or thereabout”, was expected to have conducted elections for five persons.
According to him, the five members are to complete the council’s board composition.
Biu recalled that in July last year, the Minister of Transport had directed the Council of Regulation of Freight Forwarders to conduct elections to get five members on the board. “For some reasons, whether it is funding or some other logistics reasons, I have no idea because I do not participate in their day to day administration so I wouldn’t know. “But they have not been able to do that (Conduct the elections),’’ he said.
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