Founder, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam on Tuesday described the legal action by the Association of Licensed Customs Agent (ANLCA) against the Ministry of Transport, Council for the Registration of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Inspector-General of Police and four associations over the collection of CRFFN’s Professional Operating Fee (POF) as simply a pre-emptive action to stop its (ANLCA) deregistration.
Aniebonam also said the court action will not stop the statutory responsibilities of the CRFFN, including an executive order to collect the contentious fee.
SHIPS & PORTS DAILY reported exclusively on Tuesday that ANLCA had gone to the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos to stop the collection of the POF.
The association is also asking the Court to restrain the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase from harassing its members over non-payment of the fee.
But in his reaction to the suit in which his association was joined, Aniebonam claimed that the fear of ANLCA that the Transport Ministry and CRFFN may deregister it was the major reason , among others, why the association went to court.
“I know that the Transport Ministry is not at home with their conduct. And if you do things in that manner, the consequences are very high.
“This is something they should have done earlier than now. In a civil society, it is better to conduct yourself in line with the laws of the land. When you have something that agitates your mind, you go to court and seek redress on interpretation.
“I am quite at home that they have gone to court and it makes all of us to remain good friends and the court will pronounce its verdict on the case but let me hope that all is well because some of these things could be a pre-empted action.
“You recall that the Concerned Freight Forwarders were quite clear on that subject matter and the need to increase the level of discipline in the management of CRFFN. I just hope they did not do this to pre-empt the deregistration of ANLCA for their misconduct. But let see how it goes,” he added.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.
