… Directs Perm. Sec. to stick to CRFFN enabling Act
The Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has ordered the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani to set machinery in motion towards conducting the election of freight forwarders into the Governing Council of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) in two weeks time.
Amaechi who issued the order in a meeting he had in Abuja yesterday with all the contestants who purchased forms to contest in the election directed the Permanent Secretary to ensure that the election was conducted in line with the Act establishing the Council.
He posited that the Ministry cannot afford to go contrary to the enabling Act nor undermine the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria insisting that independent candidates can participate in the elections.
The Minister further directed the election should hold in all zones as stipulated in the Act establishing the Council adding that candidates for the election must reflect a representation of all the zones as laid down in the enabling Act.
He requested the corperation of the stakeholders so that in the next two weeks, the election should have been concluded adding that he is more interested to inaugurate the new Governing Council.
Done with the directive, the Minister took his leave and directed the Permanent Secretary to go on with the electioneering process
With this directive, the Minister has laid to rest the raging controversy over the eligibility of independent candidates in the council elections.
Both the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), the two biggest among the five accredited freight forwarders, have vehemently opposed the participation of independent candidates.
This has therefore pitted the associations with other stakeholders who are in support of independent candidacy, thus stalling the conduct of the CRFFN elections which should have been held since October last year.
Already, the five accredited associations have shared the 15 elective positions in the 32-member CRFFN Governing Council among themselves in the ratio of 6:6:1:1:1.
Primetime Reporters gathered that about 30 contestants were present at the meeting which started at about 3pm at the Conference Room, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Abuja.
Photo: Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, Honourable Minister of Transportation.
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