The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has called on the Federal government to as a matter of urgency audit the account of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) so as to ascertain the true position of the Council’s finance.
Speaking at a news briefing in Lagos yesterday, the National Publicity Secretary (NPS) of ANLCA, Dr. Kayode Farinto argued that since the Governing Board of the Council was not in place, there was the need to ascertain who had been approving all the funds that the Registrar and his team had been spending.
Using ANLCA as a reference, Farinto recalled that there were limits to what ANLCA President could spend on his own without recourse to the Board of the association wondering who had been approving the money the Council spends since the Board was dissolved in 2012 and for what purpose.
“The Registrar must have his limits. So, who has been giving him approval and there is no Minister in place. If money has been collected, for what? Who gives him approval? Based on what? Where did he derive his power from? So, all those thing, that is why I said they need total overhaul, a total audit system of the Management.
“Yes, it is out of place to say that. Do we wait until somebody goes to invite EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission)? I as an interested party can invite EFCC”, he said.
When reminded that apart from last year when the government made a budgetary provision for the Council, the Council had been operating with virtually zero allocation, he said,” I am not aware because they just got that permanent Secretariat, paid for three years. Who gave him the approval? From where did he get the money? We also heard that the Shippers’ Council gave a loan of fifty million which has not been paid back, what happened to that money? The two hundred and fifty thousand Naira take off grant given by the Federal Government, what happened to it?”
“If I raise dust, a lot of people will come down and write stories, even from the past governing council, I don’t give a hoot”.
Reacting, the Registrar of CRFFN, Sir Mike Jukwe posited that ANLCA was worrying itself as he explained that any money gotten from the Federal Government is accounted for at the end of the year adding that such money is audited and accounted for to the federal government.
“All they are saying is rubbish, there is no truth in it”, he said.
On the loan from the Shippers’ Council, Jukwe retorted,” How can we collect loan from the Shippers Council? To do what with it? Shippers’ Council is an agency of government like us, we can’t go to them and collect loan. We didn’t get any loan from the Shippers’ Council and we never collected loan from them or any other place”.
On who gives approval to his spending in the Council since the dissolution of the Governing Council, he answered, “If the Governing Council is not in place, you report to the Ministry and if the Minister is not in place, there is a Permanent Secretary there”.
He however informed that the Council had handed over all the contending issues with the freight forwarders to the Ministry of Transport which was now handling all those matters pointing that in today’s edition of This Day Newspaper, there was a public notice made by the Ministry of Transport in respect of the bone of contention.
“So, those are the things, we are not interested in all those frivolous allegations or issues from ANLCA or whatever quarters. We have kept mute but we are doing what we are supposed to do. That is why we are not talking to the press, the Ministry have overruled and you go to this This Day today, you see the Public Notice from the Ministry. ANLCA is not bigger than the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”, Jukwe stated.
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