FRAUD ALERT: APFFLON Express Concerns As CRFFN Allegedly Share POF Proceeds with 6.6.1.1.1 Sharing Formula
L-R: Chairman of CRFFN Governing Board, Alhaji Tsanni Abubakar, A board member, Chief Timothy Awogbemi, and APFFLON President, Otunba Frank Ogunojemite at a meeting in Apapa on Thursday
By DAPO OLAWUNI
The African Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON) has raised an alarm of fraud allegedly being perpetuated by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) over the distribution of proceeds from the controversial Practitioners Operations Fee (POF) to only five associations.
President of APFFLON, Otunba Frank Ogunojemite states this at a meeting with the CRFFN Governing Board members in Apapa Lagos on Thursday.
He noted that CRFFN has started distributing a paltry N200,000 monthly among the five freight forwarding association, based on the 6.6.1.1.1 sharing formula which was vehemently kicked against during the last governing council elections.
Otunba Ogunojemite however condemned this act, saying that non of the five registered associations have fulfilled their financial obligations to CRFFN in the past eight years.
“CRFFN have started sharing POF benefits to freight forwarders and some associations are being given N200,000 by the Registrar, we see this as a fraud”
“If you look at the Act of CRFFN, you need to be a member of association before you can benefit from this POF returns, does it mean that individual freight forwarders cannot get their returns from POF? Is the sharing about the associations justified? What is the difference between the associations that are accredited and those not yet accredited?
“According to the investigation we conducted, the last time any association paid money to CRFFN was eight years ago during Mike Jukwe, as I speak with you, there is no accredited association in this country by CRFFN, the Act says that you must pay your subscription within six months, and yet these associations have not paid for eight years, this is a violation of the CRFFN Act.
“There are assessment that is carried out for each association to become a member of CRFFN, are they really meeting up? Some of them are inactive, we have gone to the CAC to investigate, so as am talking to you, there is no accredited association in this country because non of them has paid. The 200,000 being distributed to only associations needs to be investigated”
“If the 200,000 sharing formula continues, it means we are still promoting the 66111 sharing formula and this would lead to anarchy in the profession, when there is no unity, you cannot get the best, this is one of the problems hindering the performance of the CRFFN” he said
The APFFLON President urged the Council to throw it’s doors open and register more freight forwarding associations. Alternatively, he said the Council should create one umbrella under which all practitioners can get POF refund as people contributing to the growth of the profession.
“When you accredit associations, there is need for you to assess their performance, some of these associations are older than the CRFFN itself, so how can a son accredit it’s parents? However, the parent should handover the mantle to the son at a certain stage” he said
Ogunojemite also called the attention of the CRFFN Board to a looming danger in the ongoing amendment of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) currently before the National Assembly.
According to him, sections 153 to 156 of the customs Act has undermined the CRFFN Act and it’s existence in regulating freight forwarding practice.
Meanwhile, the CRFFN Act, Sections 19 (1&2) states that for anyone to practice freight forwarding, such a person must obtain a certificate and accreditation from CRFFN, but the Customs Act needs to make it mandatory for freight forwarders to get CRFFN registration before collection of licenses.
“I looked at the section 153,154, 155, 156 of the CEMA, and the sections of the CRFFN, Sections 19 (1&2) and observed some discrepancies and conflicts, if you examine the CEMA very well, it talks about how to license the freight forwarders, but there was no inclusion of having a certificate from the CRFFN.
“If the CRFFN refuse to act fast now, the customs law would undermine your powers. We want to know if we would have to collect certificate from CRFFN before we can become a custom license holder. Looking at the CRFFN Act, it says that you must collect a certificate from the council before you can be licensed, but it is not included in this bill before the National Assembly, this is one of our observations”
In his remarks, the Chairman of CRFFN Governing Board, Alhaji Abubakar Tsanni encouraged APFFLON to withdraw its court case against CRFFN.
Tsanni, however, expressed delight at APFFLON’s commitment to tackling industry issues and robust engagements with stakeholders in a bid to improve freight forwarding practice in the country.
The CRFFN Chairman assured that the Governing Board will deliberate extensively on the issues raised by the freight forwarding group.
Also speaking, the Chairman, Media and Publicity at the CRFFN Governing Board, Hon. Muftahu Ya’u advised that all future disputes among freight forwarders should utilize the dispute resolution mechanisms enshrined in the CRFFN Act.
“We have observed that APFFLON has a lot of grievances and the Governing Board Chairman has assured that they will be addressed. The fact that we met with APFFLON means that CRFFN is willing to work with all practitioners. The Chairman has also said that there will be more interface with APFFLON to have a more seamless environment”
“As the Chairman of CRFFN, Tsanni is bound by law to listen to the grievances of all CRFFN registered members either as individuals, companies or associations,” he said.
He also assured that CRFFN will check the requirements needed for registration of associations and grant APFFLON that status if the group meets the stipulations in the CRFFN Act.
