Freight Forwarders Grumble as Screening of Candidates for CRFFN Board Election Kicks-off Today
rotimi amaechi
By Francis Ugwoke
There is intense grumbling among freight forwarders on the method adopted by the Electoral Committee screening candidates for the election into the Governing Board of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN).
The Electoral Committee is billed to screen candidates today in Rockview Hotel, Apapa, Lagos for candidates who are operating in the seaports.
Others operating in the border/airport areas will also be screened at a venue close to their areas of operation.
But some freight forwarders are bitter that the exercise is being carried out without due consultation with stakeholders.
The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) for instance is dismayed by non-involvement of the secretariat staff of the CRFFN and the choice of Onne as venue for the screening of candidates.
The association said that inadequate involvement of the CRFFN secretariat could be suspicious for the good conduct of the election.
For instance, the association argued the it was only the CRFFN Secretariat staff that can avail the Electoral Committee of relevant information about the candidates that are vying for election..
It described as cheap blackmail that the CRFFN secretariat is not interested in conducting the election as the reason why they are being sidelined.
In a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the association, Mr Stanley Ezenga, NAGAFF pointed out that Onne which is one of the venues in Rivers for the election is a nightmare to access.
“ It is to NAGAFF that the Chairman of the electoral Committee may not have visited Onne Port in the last five years to appreciate the difficulties accessing Onne port area of the Rivers state. The road leading to Onne is a nightmare for the port users and the general public. Indeed, Onne town is not an appropriate venue for the screening exercise of the Contestants and the members of the screening Committee at the moment”, the statement said..
The statement added, “ We regret to note that CRFFN Secretariat may not be directly involved in this election. We equally noted that only two nominees of the CRFFN Secretariat officials were nominated into the Council election engagement. This may have introduced elements of suspicion on the credibility of the election at the moment in terms of adequate supervision, record keeping and data processing. That means that one out of the three zones will not have a CRFFN Secretariat staff represented. This is suspicious due to inadequate representation. It is also surprising that none of the five registered Associations was given any role to play in the election schedules thus suggesting that something is wrong somewhere again.
“It is alleged that some individuals in the freight forwarding business may be influencing the decisions of the Electoral Committee. The internal conflict in one of our sister Associations is not adding value to the growth and development of CRFFN over time. Therefore, the capacity of CRFFN to regulate and control freight forwarding practice in Nigeria may be a suspect. Otherwise, appropriate action should have been taken to bring the group to justice.
“The alleged blackmail of the fact that CRFFN secretariat may not be interested in undertaking election into the Governing Board is cheap because the Hon. Minister under Section five of the Council act is in-charge of giving direction and character of CRFFN administration. It is therefore surprising that the venue of the Election is taken to Abuja other than Lagos. May we therefore draw the attention of the Chairman of the Electoral Committee to the ugly experiences of the maiden election in Abuja under the Transportation ministry/Nigeria Shipper’s Council specifically. The records are there at the CRFFN Secretariat to show that the maiden election was extensively rigged using touts from Abuja motor parks and University students duly rented for the purposes of the election. It is equally on record that arrests were made to the knowledge of late Captain Admu Biu without prosecution”.
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