Clearing agents under the aegis of Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders Importers and Exporters Coalition (SNFFIEC) have called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to probe the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria’s (CRFFN) budgetary allocations to.
Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, Chairman of SNFFIEC, Patrick Osita, said that EFCC and ICPC to beam their searchlights and find out what the current management of CFFRN has done with the funds been allocated to them.
According to him, the Council performed below expectation and underachieved since the Federal Government inaugurated the current management board in November, 2018, adding that the current management board has not been training freight forwarders, which is part of their mandates since they came on board.
According to him, CRFFN has failed woefully on the major task and mandate given to them by the freight forwarders which is to create a conducive environment for them to practise. He said there is need for government to dissolve the current leadership of the CRFFN when their two-year tenure ends in October and appoint professionals to run the affairs of the Council. “It has been two years since the current CRFFN board and management were appointed, tell me what they have achieved this far? I am not talking about Practitioners Operating Fee (POF) because that is not their primary role and responsibility. I am talking of training and welfare of practitioners. How has CRFFN impacted on the lives of the clearing agent at the ports?
“Since the current CRFFN management was inaugurated in 2018, things have gone from bad to worse for clearing agents. The CRFFN has not organised a single training for clearing agents. Cargo clearance procedure has become more cumbersome and tedious, yet the CRFFN management pretends as if all is well with freight forwarders,” he added.
He said it is time for a change in the leadership of the CRFFN, saying that freight forwarders need professionals to take over the mantle of leadership of the Council.
