The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has registered its displeasure with the constitution of the Committee to oversee the distribution of seized goods by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) which left out the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), NAGAFF and the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA).
It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier ordered the NCS to release all seized goods in the custody of the Service for onward distribution to the IDPs in North-Eastern part of the country in particular leading to the constitution of a Committee to that effect by the Nigeria Customs Service.
In a letter to the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd.), the Legal Adviser to NAGAFF, Barr. Fred Akokhia described the exclusion of the CRFFN, NAGAFF and ANLCA from the Committee as an oversight on the part of the Customs boss.
According to Akokhia,” It is on records that within the period under review that your visitation to stakeholders may have tactically excluded CRFFN and any of the two major freight associations like, NAGAFF and ANLCA as strategic partners to Customs responsibilities. It is our opinion that Nigeria Customs Service as the lead agency of the Government in our entry points may not necessary bother itself unduly visiting other Agencies that needed the cooperation of the Customs to actualize their statutory roles.
“These agencies and parasatals shall include but not limited to SON, NAFDAC, NSC, NIMASA, NPA etc. These agencies needed your cooperation to achieve their objectives. It appears to us that you may have been wrongly advised about the relevance or otherwise of CRFFN as a regulator of the Freight Forwarding Practitioners. There is no doubt that CEMA does not recognize or deal with associations but rather corporate bodies licensed by Customs, individuals, firms, importers, exporters and excise traders.
On the contrary, CRFFN as an agency of the Government recognizes and deals with Associations, individuals and corporate bodies registered and accredited as freight forwarders.
“CGC Sir, take note that the constitution of Nigeria is superior to any other law in Nigeria. Under the relevant sections of the Nigerian Constitution, the registered and incorporated bodies under CEMA/CRFFN regulations have come under the authority of the constitution to form an association. It is our view and advice that the CGC should realize and recognize the strategic importance of the CRFFN as an agency of the Government to regulate and control freight forwarders in Nigeria. And as such, you may wish to include CRFFN, NAGAFF and ANLCA in your programme of action and activities in the Customs ports and approved gateways and more importantly in the constitution of the IDP’s communities on seized goods.
“We give this very important advice in good faith because we want you to succeed in actualizing your mandate as given to you by Mr. President at the Nigeria Customs Service. May we again remind and inform you that the corruption rate in Customs matters is seemingly on the increase since your assumption of duty”, he said.
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