CRFFN Board Election: Perm Sec Tells Freight Forwarders to Field Credible Candidates, Shun Money Politics
*Nweke, Uche, Nwosu shun NAGAFF, begin campaign as independent candidates
By Francis Ugwoke
Freight forwarders in the country were on Wednesday told that the election into the Governing Board of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) was mainly for professionals who will add value to the industry.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Mrs. Magdaline Ajani, who addressed leaders of freight forwarders and customs agents associations at Eko Hotels during a stakeholders forum said it was time for practitioners to embrace professionalism in their choice of who represents them in the CRFFN Board.
Ajani said that experience has shown that past elections into the board did not produce professionals needed in certain capacity in the sector.
She advised that there was the need to shun money bag politics and elect those capable of doing the professional job required.
The Permanent Secretary also said the election into the CRFFN Board would be based on constitutional provisions which allow independent candidates as against the arrangement by the associations that the candidates must come from them.
Both Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Nigerian Association of Air Freight Forwarders and Consolidators (NAFFAC) and the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders Nigeria (AREFFN) while kicking against independent candidates had also reached an understanding for a sharing formula in the election.
Under the arrangement, NAGAFF and ANLCA will produce six members each while three other associations will be entitled for one member each to make 15 freight forwarders into the council, an arrangement that excludes independent candidates.
The Permanent Secretary may have spoken to the stakeholders based on information reaching her about the money politics involved in the exercise.
It was gathered that a good number of freight forwarders interested in the election were barred from contesting the CRFFN Board election either directly or indirectly through the imposition of huge sums of money to be paid as pre-qualification requirement to have the mandate of the associations.
For instance, one of the associations had imposed the sum of N10million for any member interested in the election.
When a protest arose among three outstanding members of the associations, the fee was relaxed to N5million, a development which the affected individuals felt was still without human face.
The affected individuals were said to have dared the associations and secured the CRFFN Board election forms to contest the election.
At the stakeholders forum on Wednesday, Dr Eugene Nweke, former President of NAGAFF, Dr. Increase Uche and former Secretary, Mr Emeka NBwosu, had insisted that they were going to contest the election as independent candidates.
The Permanent Secretary said this was allowed based on the constitutional provision.
This was as the associations said they had agreed through a communiqué to drop the idea of independent candidates in the election.
The Permanent Secretary while reacting to this development said she noticed that one of the associations, the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders Nigeria (AREFFN) did not sign the communiqué , meaning that the associations were not united on the decision.
Besides, she noted that Nweke, Increase Uche and Emeka Nwosu are independent candidates.
She disclosed that she was the one who asked the Screening Committee to stop the exercise until the stakeholders were consulted.
She added that a new date will be announced once the freight forwarders have organised themselves and ready for the election.
As at the time of filing this report, the three freight forwarders have concluded plans to flag off their campaigns for the election.
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