… Says body language suggestive of complicity
Following its exclusion from the meeting of the accredited freight forwarding association summoned today in Lagos by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), the African Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON) has accused the management of the Council of compromise.
The President, APFFLON, Otunba Frank Ogunojemite who made the accusation in a statement in Lagos on Thursday noted that the association was shocked by the body language of the Management of the Council which, he said was roundly suggestive of complicity in the lingering commotion triggered by the proposed sharing formula for the CRFFN anticipated election.
He disclosed that the letter by the Registrar of the Council, Barr. Samuel Nwakohu, dated November 11, 2021 and exclusively copied to leaders of associations, strictly inviting the Presidents and their Secretaries to a meeting slated for 10th of November, 2021, at Rockview Hotel and Suites Apapa, was a clear evidence that the management was in full support of the infamous 6:6:1:1:1 formula.
He noted that Section 4 of the CRFFN Act recognized three categories of membership namely; associations, corporate bodies and individuals even as he wondered why the management of the Council did not extend invite to the other two categories of the CRFFN membership.
“This and other deliberate infractions on the part of the management makes one to begin to doubt the neutrality of the Registrar and his team in the unpopular arrangement .
“Sidelining corporate bodies and individuals by not inviting them to meetings strongly negates that very section of the Act that provides that those three categories shall populate the Council.
“APFFLON hereby state unequivocally that the present CRFFN management is increasingly casting itself in bad light as emerging facts have clearly shown that the Council itself is the bane of robust freight forwarding practice in Nigeria. On that note, we hereby call on the Honourable Minister to closely watch the activities of the Council as it needs to be sanitized because as it stands, the integrity of the management is in serious doubt.
“The question remains, why would they invite associations without considering other stakeholders? That singular act is not only dubious, it is a clear violation of Section 4 of the Act and therefore questions the integrity of its management.
“Flouting the Federal Ministry of Transportation’s directives on the election of members into the Council by the present management of the Council justifies our call for immediate removal of the management as they are no longer fit to participate in the forthcoming election, otherwise the entire process will be jeopardized and the efforts of the Honourable Minister to transform the industry will be bastardized as well.
“We call on the Honourable Minister to take a firm stand to save the industry and not allow any individual or cartel to dictate or wrongly advise him against his resolution to carry out proper and in-depth reformation of the sector because Nigeria deserves to be among the comity of robust Maritime nations”, he submitted.
Photo: Otunba Frank Ogunojemite, President, African Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON).
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