Customs e-Auction Portal: APFFLON Begs Wale Adeniyi to Allow Participation of Overtime Cargo Owners

By DAPO OLAWUNI

The President of Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON) Otunba Frank Ogunojemite has appealled to the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi to allow owners of overtime cargo billed for auction the right of first refusal in bidding on the auction.

Recall that the Customs service had last week reopened its electronic auction portal to the public, while excluding participation of overtime cargo owners and customs officers and their families.

But in a chat with newsmen on Monday, Otunba Ogunojemite argued that allowing the owners of overtime cargoes opportunities to bid for the auction will give them an opportunity to reclaim their goods which hitherto they abandoned as a result of economic hardship, bad government policies and other sundry issues.

He said, “We appeal to customs to give the owners of the overtime cargoes the right of first refusal in auctioning their goods. They (customs) should reach out to them personally in order to afford them the last chance of reclaiming their goods.Some of them abandoned their cargo because the economy of the country could not encourage them to clear their goods. Some of them, their spouses are dead and they don’t have access to his fund or the documents to enable them clear those goods.

“Of course, the auction is good but we still appeal to the CG to give them the benefit of doubt and give them the opportunity to come for their goods because that could be the end of their business life if their goods can be auctioned to another person.”

He equally suggested that a monitoring Committee should be set up to monitor the entire bidding process in order to ensure that the process was time tested and foolproof and also to entrench transparency in the entire process.