…Says NAGAFF has no business with Ali, Customs
The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents I(ANLCA) has faulted the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAF)’s letter to the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd.)over its exclusion from the IDP committee set up by the CGC saying NAGAFF has nothing to do with the Nigeria Customs Service.
It will be recalled that NAGAFF had earlier written to Ali protesting the exclusion of NAGAFF, ANLCA and the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) from the Committee set up by the CGC to oversee the distribution of the seized rice to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari recently.
The National Publicity Secretary of ANLCA, Dr. Kayode Farinto who spoke in an interview with Primetime Reporters also said ANLCA had no business with the directive given to the Customs Officers by the CGC to declare their assets within 14 days describing it as an internal affair of the customs.
According to him,” That is not our problem. The CGC has not directed agents to declare assets because he does not have that power. He has directed his officers where his power can reach, so, what is our business with that?
“Are you now saying they should not declare their assets? Because that is what the civil procedure says but what we don’t know is what categories of officers will declare their assets. In as much as he did not say agents must declare their assets, if he says that now, we can now ask, why are you saying that?
“We are not NAGAFF where for instance Mr. President directed that they should give seized rice to the IDPs and NAGAFF said they want to be part of the committee. What is their business with that for goodness sake? They are overstepping their bound. Written to CGC as what? What is their interest? ANLCA has not even written that we want to have an observer status to make sure that these things are evenly distributed. What is NAGAFF’s interest let alone writing that they want to be member of that committee. It is absurd.
“It doesn’t concern us, where it concern us, ANLCA will talk. I don’t know why declaring an asset should concern us. What is our business? We don’t have business with that. If the CGC said now, all customs agents must declare their assets, we will tell him he does not have that power and we will ask him why. Don’t forget that this man was sent that place to reform and restructure customs; this is part of the reforms. So, how can anybody be complaining if they don’t have anything in their cupboard?”.
He however hinted that the association had written to the Minister of Finance on the effect of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s policy on importation and FOREX on their businesses informing that they were yet to receive response from the Minister in that regard.
On whether or not the association had written to the CGC requesting to have audience with him, Dr. Farinto admitted that ANLCA did write to the CGC who had promised to call to communicate to them the date for such meeting.
He however refuted the media report allegedly insinuating that the CGC turned down their requaest to meet with him describing it as a beer parlour gist.
“We wrote to the Minister of Finance telling her the effect of the FOREX restriction. The letter to the CG is to have a one on one with the CGC to be able to tell him the operational challenges we have at the ports.
“No response has been received from the Minister up till now. You and I know that they just inaugurated the Board not more than one month, our letter I am sure will be among the first set and immediately they did that, they have been travelling. As I am talking to you now, the President is in Kenya and he is there with some Ministers. So we are hoping that by the second week of February, we are likely to receive reply.
“We wrote to the CGC that we want to have audience with him and he has promised to call very soon. I don’t know where NAGAFF has gotten its own from. NAGAFF will write to CGC as what? NAGAFF is a freight forwarding Association.
“No, there is nothing like that but we have written to the CGC and he has promised to see us soon. The issue of turning down, I don’t know. Most of the things you are listening to now is what we refer to as beer parlour gist, there is nothing like that”, he said.
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