The Congregation of Registered Freight Forwarding Practitioners of Nigeria (CREFFPON) has written an open letter to the Minister of Tranpsortation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi expressing strong concerns while seeking the Minister’s urgent attention and intervention on some notable grey areas observed in the published public notice announcing the timetable for election of freight forwarders into the Governing Board of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN).
The open letter which was signed by Mr. Edwin Chukwudire Obi, Desk Administrative Officer, CREFFPON, stated that the decision to conduct the said election was highly commendable of the Minister’s office hoping that the electioneering process would be executed in the most transparent, free, fair and acceptable manner.
CREFFPON observed that though, some notable and critical professionals had raised key observations dwelling in the administrative arrangements and had expressed possible unforeseen requiring the Minister’s attention, “we pray for wisdom for you in taking note and acting on issues raised by them, as it will foster and enhance professional integration and administrative convenience, going forward.”
It, however, argued that the timing for collection and submission of nomination forms within 10 days was too short and capable of scheming out or shortchanging interested and eligible practitioners from exercising their legitimate professional rights to vote and be voted for in order to serve in his or her professional Governiing Council, which, according it, was the peak and height of a freight forwarder professional leadership career and professional might, so to say.
The group further observed that the public notice did not mention nor stress on the “display of the names of eligible registered freight forwarders or corporate firms to vote in the election as contained in the register of freight forwarders”, especially in the context of the limited time frame for the organization and execution of the election.
“Wherefore, as provided in the Act 16, 2007, the Register of the freight forwarders shall be published annually which has not been effected. We hereby solicit for your urgent attention and intervention at ensuring that eligible voters’ lists is published early and sealed to serve for electioneering process and purposes. This way, practitioners will be reassured of no iota of intent to smuggle, in the usual manipulation, of names as it were in the previous elections”, it said.
On the venue of the election, CREFFPON opined that it was not both administrative, economic and security friendly to move 95% of over 4,000 registered freight forwarders from their operational base of Western and Eastern ports to Abuja except for a clandestine administrative moves to disenfranchise majority of the practitioners.
It continued, “If not for something else, to us, it is considered a defeat of objective, abinitio. Sir, permit to allude that, from our confidence oral interactions and findings within the Ministry, the claims or reasons that was posited to have informed this decision which is that the total number of currently updated and eligible freight forwarders on the Register of Freight Forwarders (RFF) stands at: a. 4,686 individual and b. 1,425 corporate.
“Wherefore, against the background of high number of eligible voters expected at the election venue was slated for Abuja as a technical and security arrangement to limit and ensure effective crowd control and success of the election.
“Honorable Minister, this posited reasons or excuse for the shift of election venue to Abuja is neither here nor there because there are several ways of using the electoral guidelines to checkmate crowd other than exposing majority of the practitioners to numerous risks ranging from flight and travel risks especially under serious national security threats, extraordinary expenditures, health risks, etc.
“To say the least, the freight forwarders have not forgotten in a hurry their past experience with the first maiden election into the Governing Council, midwifed by the Nigeria Shippers Council in 2008. It was not only rigged but witnessed the import of school children and streets urchin with luxurious buses into the election venue at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja on the morning of the election day. The aftermath of that election created room for fundamental administrative misgivings, subsequently.
“In view of this, we solicit for your attention and urgent intervention on this aspect of our concern.”
Speaking on the issuance of election guidelines at the point of collecting nomination form, the group said, “The form collection process entails the payment of N500,000 into the CRFFN Single Treasury Account and the presentation of bank payment receipt to the designated centres before the nomination form will be released and subsequently a ‘guideline for the conduct of the election would be given to candidate at that point.’
“In view of this, we consider the act of non-publication of the electoral guidelines accompanying this public notice as a conceived deliberate act factored not on utmost good faith. To say the least, it is a calculated rip off on the part of the committee. It is not ideal to, first, collect a non-refundable payment of N500,000 from an interested practitioners and upon accessing or collection of the electoral guidelines, having effected payment to discover that he or she is not eligible to contest.
“Such approach is crooked and can be termed as daylight rip-off of the freight forwarders. To be emphatic, this crooked approach has the tendency to cast credibility question and possibly engender litigations arising therefrom.
“Honorable Minister, from the previous elections experiences, the rate of obtaining nomination form at high cost as N500,000 has always posed serious representation challenges on the part of elected freight forwarders whom, subsequently, upon being sworn into the Governing Council, firstly, think of how to recouped money spent during the election, thereby leading to poor representation of the practitioners in the long run.
“Honorable Minister, sir, it is in the strength of these enumerated concerns that we write to solicit your attention and urgent intervention so as to save the integrity of our profession cum professional election.”
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