“We can still collect the transaction fee, but CRFFN should pass through us to get the money”

In this interview, founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Dr Boniface Aniebonam, as usual spoke passionately about the industry; especially freight forwarding, the CRFFN, the controversial Transaction Fees and a host of other issues.

“Membership Of The CRFFN Is Voluntary”

……Dr Aniebonam

“We can still collect the transaction fee, but CRFFN should pass through us to get the money”

“Membership Of The CRFFN Is Voluntary”

……Dr Aniebonam

What are your expectations for the maritime industry in 2013?
My expectation as far as the industry is concerned (which has to do with freight forwarding) is to get CRFFN on track because that is the hub of transportation as far as freight forwarding business is concerned and that is just my interest for now and we must get CRFFN right this time around. Don’t forget that NAGAFF is the engine room and we are the initiator of the council and the council is a baby of NAGAFF.

There are insinuations that NAGAFF is deeply involved in the crisis that is currently rocking the CRFFN
NAGAFF cannot be involved in anything that has to do with crisis in CRFFN; you cannot have a baby and then destroy that baby because we have a responsibility to get CRFFN right. But I can take you back to the genesis; you recall that the turmoil in the council has to do with the then transport ministry as far as we are concerned and the ordinary man in the street should know that CRFFN is a private initiative, that is why the chairman of the council is an elected individual and the Council’s Act is quite clear on that aspect, that is to the effect that membership of the governing council does not really make you a public servant. We all know that the chairman of the various boards of parastatals like Customs, NESREA, NPA are all appointees of Mr. President, but it is not like that in our own case, so the remote cause of the problem in the council is that of the transport minister and I can take you back to the tenure of Mr. John Okechukwu who was the then-minister of water transportation, who has the responsibility to midwife the council, using the office of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council. And as far as I am concerned, from day one the council was rubbished because the category of the council member was quite misleading. In line with the Council Act, there is individual membership, corporate membership and associations. The first election was conducted in total breach of the Council’s Act and we don’t have a registrar that was legally empowered in line with the Act. We can go on and on to say that the council started in a wrong footing. John Okechukwu never listened to anybody and as far as I am concerned some of them who won election into that council were just clearing agents and he saw the council as an opportunity to favour his friends and that is why you see that out of the eight elected members of the council, seven of them are from the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents which you know opposed the creation of the council. So from day one, the council was being moved in the wrong direction and can not move an inch because those that came into the council never had any good interest, so I must say that we started wrongly for four years where nothing can be achieved, thus the mindset of the set of people that came into the council from day one, was to destroy the council and it is a fact.

What is the way forward of the present quagmire?
The way forward for the council is simple and let me tell you that section 5 of the council Act revealed that the power of the minister to control and give direction of character is not absolute power and I have told you that the categories of membership of the council are: individual, corporate and of course associations. Good enough, the registrar has been able to get a register for freight forwarders which has to do with the categories of membership which are quite germane and if that is the case, what next should we do; there is platform in the council Act which is called Freight Forwarders Consultative Forum or the congress , so what the minister needed to do right away is to call the registrar, tell him to bring in the registered association ,get some individual member and also from corporate membership ,hold meetings with them and give direction to the council. Now what do we do again, we run the council that is inclusive and don’t forget that one of the major reasons the council came to being was because of the various noise in the industry that seems to bring some level of discordant tones and to a large extent begin to cause confusion and government could not get the clear cut way to administer the freight forwarders and therefore the council came into being. We know that the council will never have peace and it never had peace for four years and now like you asked me; what is the way out or the way forward, it is that the elective positions should be called, look at the spread of the various associations and allocate responsibilities to them in terms of membership.

But it is undemocratic?
No, it is democratic because I know you are not a politician, because I am talking to you as a chairman of a political party. However you do not say things that you don’t know about, do you think that democracy is about carrying people to raise their hands, you can have a consensus and that is democratic .The various associations, ANLCA, NAGAFF AREFF and others, when you look at individual membership of the council, you will find out that ANLCA and NAGAFF control about 90% of these individuals ,then you go to corporate members you will also see that they are corporate freight forwarding companies that are licensed by the Customs and that is the forum, that is the congress and that is what this congress is all about and this congress or the Freight Forwarders Consultative Forum is what the council seeks to work with; which is an organ of the council, and if they come together and agree that this is what we want to do for the good of our council, in order to be inclusive, then it is all over. They will also supervise the elections in the various associations. So all you need to do is to allocate the 18 seats and out of the 18, you can say NAGAFF take 3, ANLCA take 3 and all other smaller associations should be given one slot each to make them know that it is inclusive and that is democratic and that is the truth but that should not bother you because we know our status and we also know our strength in the industry and it is not an issue between us. Remember the Central Working Committee where we all agreed and all we need to do is for the council to come and conduct elections in the various associations and what you will now get as members of the council are true representatives on the various contending platforms and then you have a good council. Let me say that politics is about who get what , how and when; thus people look for their interest and it is not right for you to ask for my position .One of reasons why NAGAFF said enough is enough was that after the maiden election which you knew was rigged but we kept quiet and I remember that people were caught with fake voters card and there were arrest by the police, I remember that the former executive secretary of Shippers Council; Captain Adamu Biu was there and he saw them and arrests were made by the police.

But NAGAFF is a member of the governing council of CRFFN, why didn’t it do …. ?
NAGAFF is not a member of the governing council, Eugene Nweke as the president of NAGAFF came into the council as a representative of the south east zone and not as NAGAFF and I can tell you that we commend the level of maturity on the part of the former minister of transport Isah Bio who tried to manage the situation and that goes back to tell you what I am talking about government of inclusion, when you look at the knowledge he used. Yes Eugene Nweke is the president of NAGAFF, so indirectly he came in through the south east zone and don’t forget that the ANLCA members that won elections did not win through the platform of ANLCA, but when you unveil them they are members of ANLCA, so we have to use our senses when we are talking and we don’t just talk anyhow.

I am surprised that you said NAGAFF has no hand in the crisis in CRFFN, because people have accused NAGAFF of causing it because of transaction fee?
We have not changed our position, and our position is quite specific in line with the law and section 6 of the Council Act which is quite expressive and clear on the modus operandi of the council. The CRFFN does not have power to regulate and control, yes they don’t and we cannot stay here and watch people frustrate laws of the land because it negates the essence of transformation of the country. The transaction fee is wrong, the constitutional provisions in the various associations are there and don’t forget that the issue of transaction fee is all about greed and are you aware that CRFFN has already given a letter to ANLCA,NAGAFF and others to collect practicing fees and from there, give a level of concession to them. But before you know it they turned it around with greed and where have they ended now? However that money is there, we will collect the money because the money belongs to us, but I think right now the council is beginning to appreciate our effort and you know when you allow people to do things the way they like it, you will assume that there is no law but there is law because for now you can see that the council has been bankrupt and there is no doubt about it. The council Act says that it is self-sustaining and why should you go and take money from Federation Account, it is fraudulent as far as I am concerned and if we are not very careful a day will come when that matter will come up and government will love to look into it, but then government still have the authority to grant this people money because we are Nigerians, but the government is not a father Christmas because government has other things to do with money than going to spend money where it is not necessary.

By this position of NAGAFF, it will appear as if it is playing the ostrich?
No, it is you that is playing the ostrich; you are only trying to confuse yourself. It is a constitutional provision for us to collect our practicing fee and CRFFN doesn’t have the authority to collect money from our clients; that is the importers, agency laws are quite specific, we act on behalf of the importers, so CRFFN cannot get to the client without us, the mere fact that you register or regulate does not extent to our client. These are some of the things that are limited by the CRFFN, so if you want to go behind us to get to our client then you need to take our permission to do so and that is the point we are making and of course, I know the law does not give that authority. We can still collect the transaction fee, but CRFFN should pass through us to get the money because it still ours, but you cannot apply force or powers and don’t forget like I said before membership of the council is voluntary, and NAGAFF is duly registered as an association like ANLCA and others, so there are certain limits that you can go because when you make a law and people do not obey that law, then it is not a law.

If you say membership of CRFFN is voluntary; that means you do not need to register with the CRFFN to practice in the ports?
So if one does not register with CRFFN, does that stops him from doing his freight forwarding business, no it does not, because there is Customs and Excise Management Act, section 153 to 156 which takes care of that and something that is important and pertinent to know is that Customs and Excise Management Act is an extant law, so also is the CRFFN Act, these two legislative instruments have to work together, even as they carry themselves as you can see in section 19 of the CRFFN Act which makes it mandatory that before Customs will issue a license, your name must be in the register of CRFFN and there is nothing that says it is a compulsion, otherwise it will become a matter that can be challenged in court. The two legislative instruments show that two of them must work together.

But NAGAFF as a body is not against CEMA?
Everybody in the industry is in for the repeal of CEMA because we have said severally that the Act is so obsolete and it needs to be updated to take up the challenges of international trade at the moment.

What is your stand on the argument that possession of NAGAFF I.D card and that of CRFFN do not make you a license customs agents that can operate in the port?
Those people who said that are speaking from a limited knowledge. Do the Customs officers need a pass to enter the port to go and do their work? Do lawyers need pass to enter the law court? You see some people sit down in the comfort of their room to talk without thinking and I told you that we are the ones that initiated the council and we know what the council is all about. The CRFFN is an act of the National Assembly and partial autonomy is given to us because nobody has the full autonomy and the only full autonomy is that of the government .We are already regulated by an act of the National Assembly and all we need to do is to manage our resources and our endowment. So who are the people saying that the association I.D card does not make you clear your goods from the port or if you are licensed customs agents, you cannot work in the port? Let me tell you that NAGAFF is a duly registered association by the Corporate Affairs Commission.
Nigeria Bar Association is just like ANLCA, NAGAFF and others .NESREA is like Nigeria Shippers’ Council and NPA which are all status of the government. So the most important document or identification for you to enter the port is that of the CRFFN identity card but the NAGAFF card gives you an origin that is a background from where you are coming and as a matter of fact, the current register with CRFFN is fake and if you don’t subscribe annually then you will be terminated so some of the register you see today are fake because those who thought they will come back for election went and brought people from Idumota and then went and registered them and the registrar is aware of all those thing and we hope that such will be resolved soon and that is the truth because a lot of people have limited knowledge about the CRFFN and what it is all about.