… Says fundamental errors has been established
A former Chairman, Governing Council of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Aare Hakeem Olanrewaju has expressed some reservations over the public notice issued recently by the Chairman, Electoral Committee regarding the planned election of the freight forwarders into the Governing Board of CRFFN as approved by the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
Olanrewaju who spoke in a statement in Lagos on Sunday wondered whether the Honorable Minister indeed cared much about both the professional integrity and the integrity of the electoral processes starting with the composition of the electoral committee especially with regards to scrutiny of their respective integrity and putting in the right perspective their parochial interests in representations, if any.
He disclosed that fundamental errors had been established in the making of the intended electioneering process adding that the outgone (immediate past) Governing Council was not properly dissolved.
He continued, “Presently, at the expiration of the outgone Governing Council Board, while the elected freight forwarders in the board headed to the court seeking for their tenure elongation to 4 years and not 2 years as provided by the Act 16, 2007; the appointed politicians were immediately reappointed by the Honorable Minister ahead of the freight forwarders election. From the last experience, this type of arrangement creates room for political manipulations and undue leverages.
“Unconfirmed reports has it that, there exists an internal understanding and arrangements for the appointed politicians to work assiduously and to deploy a process that will guarantee the return of the outgone freight forwarders back into the Governing Council of the CRFFN.
“Wherefore, the freight forwarding practitioners are still very much doubtful and worried about the possibilities of the HMOT unknowingly might have play into this initial conceptualized tactical electioneering and voting process packaged by the outgone Governing Council.
“It is on record that the immediate past Governing Council set up a tactical & strategic electoral committee before their tenure elapsed but the components of such electoral arrangements are still very much around in the present making as encapsulated above.
“It is important to openly lodge the skepticism expressed by the generality of the freight forwarding practitioners which seeks a clarification to the effect that this published election notice is not in any way a mere tactical and strategic electoral committee and system or better stated, a furtherance of the former Governing Council.
“This expression is apt because we aware that in a ‘first-past-the-post electoral system, a vote is tactical when it is cast for a selected candidate not on merits but to best influence to ensure such candidate wins in the constituency.’
“Tactical voting also includes strategic incentives granted to misrepresent the electorates’ choices via a manipulated and preference electoral system. Tactical voting arrangements involves subtly structuring and agreeing on an incentives that will be redeemed during or later, having the capacity to necessitate and influencing the electioneering process and the election results even when the candidates in favor is a misfits and unpopular. Tactical & strategic voting system is often organized to favor an incumbent or to foster status quo.
“The term tactical & strategic voting is synonymous to a sophisticated voting system generally referred to as an electoral committee system where there are defined agenda, rules and guidelines that are factored to suite the unpublished interests. Tactical and strategic voting system is often anti-democratic norms and pro-conservatism.”
The CRFFN Council Chairman pointed out that the identity of the electoral committee members which had not been made public was another crucial observation made in the election notice as issued saying that this, again, further cast integrity question on the electoral arrangements even as he insisted that the freight forwarders required a confidence rekindling statement from the Honorable Minister on the issues raised above.
According to him, “A clarification is apt because it will be administratively counter-productive to allow freight forwarders to obtain election forms at a whopping non-refundable cost of N500,000 and to eventually discover later that the election was a mere charades in the order not too different from the last election. Such arrangements will be tantamount to deliberate acceptance of multiple litigations thereafter.”
He went on to point out that the freight Forwarders believed that most of the administrative policies and directives taken by Transport Ministry as a supervisory ministry to the CRFFN had continuously fall short of driving a professional development process rather it further made the practitioners less professionals.
“For instance, while it may be deemed considerable that the Nigeria Shippers Council, as provided in the Act 16, 2007, midwifed the election into the first Governing Council of the CRFFN in 2008 with the recorded shortcomings therein. In 2010, the second Governing Council, the elected freight forwarders and appointed representatives organized and conducted an internal election thereby fulfilling the democratic transition as provided in the third schedule and it went smoothly without skirmishes.
“Six years (2012 to 2018) of non-constituted Governing Council following the earlier drawn of the Governing Council curtains to close position which was abruptly done by the Federal Ministry of Transport which gave excuses on paucity of fund to prosecute an election. It out rightly refused all entreaties by the elected practitioners who proposed to conduct the election within the ambit of its professional providence but to no avail, hence, the non-regulatory activities within the period under reference.
“In 2018, again the Ministry cooked up another general election, appointed politicians (98% of them non-practitioners) to represent the geopolitical zones of the federation. These politicians were well seated for about six months ahead of the composition of the ideal Governing Council in what the practitioners saw as a collaboration with some of the officers in the Transport Ministry in consultation with the leadership of the accredited freight forwarding associations, handed over an electoral script to the management of the CRFFN to prosecute while they sat back to supervise.
“The outcome of that year 2018 election is a typical example of a tactical voting system.
“Today, the Transport Ministry has constituted another election in consultation with the stakeholders citing sections of the Act to mean that the Act conferred on the HMOT the Power to constitute and organize an election for the freight forwarders which, in the understanding of the practitioners is not so. Rather, the practitioners are of the opinion that the HMOT merely misinterpret and misrepresents the object clause in the Act, “the Honorable Minister to give directions of essential character to the Council”. In reality, judging from the first Governing Council, the said object clause is applicable where the Governing Council requires to address issues with political considerations (e.g. internal political appointments, siting of projects, etc).
“The generality of the freight forwarding practitioners, with mouths wide open, wish to ask, can the government minister cum ministry constitute an electoral committee for the Engineers, Accountants, Bankers, Lawyers, Doctors, etc.? It is worrisome to note that some of the accredited freight forwarding associations have a long history of conducting successful internal elections but under the prevailing circumstances are found unfit to conduct a free, fair, transparent and acceptable election in their profession.
“Indeed, seemingly, the freight forwarding profession is the most disrespected and ignored among the comity of national professional bodies in Nigeria yet they are the most trusted and movers of the National economy”, Olanrewaju stated.
He, therefore, called on the Honorable Minister of Transportation to give a statement of essential character premised on professional integrity with regards to this subject of the election notice into the Governing Council of the CRFFN even as he promised to make further comments in due course.
Photo: Aare Hakeem Olanrewaju, former Chairman, Governing Council, CRFFN.
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