President of the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders (AREFF), Dr. Frank Ukor has said that the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has no right to deregister any of its accredited associations.
This statement from the AREFF President is in response to alleged plans by the Council to heed to the call of some of its members to have its last three accredited associations deregistered.
Speaking with SHIPS & PORTS DAILY in his office yesterday, Ukor said that the CRFFN Act does not provide for the Council to deregister an association it already accredited.
Ukor disclosed that the CRFFN Registrar, Mike Jukwe, when confronted with the allegations denied ever consenting to deregistering any of its accredited association.
He said: “We got our lawyer who wrote to the Transport Minister and the CRFFN Registrar who denied that he never said so because he cannot deregister an association. But we carried an investigation and discovered that it was some of the so called bigger associations that were instigating the Registrar to deregister us.”
Meanwhile, the AREFF President has reiterated the need for CRFFN to constitute its governing board.
Ukor, said that CRFFN’s lack of a governing council does not bode well for the freight forwarders regulatory body as the Council needs direction that only a governing board can give.
He said that the present CRFFN management’s excuse of lack of funds to conduct an election is unconvincing as, in his opinion, the regulatory body only needs to solicit for funds from other port government agencies.
“Let us have an election. Each time they say there is no money, I don’t know when they expect money to come. They can solicit for funds. Shippers’ Council, NPA¸ NIMASA will be ready to assist. With solicited funds pooled together, all need done is to get a venue preferable in Lagos to sit and conduct the election “Ukor told SHIPS & PORTS DAILY.
He said that there was no need for an extravagantly organised election which he said is a waste of time and resources.
He said that pending the conduct of the election, consideration should be given to allowing representatives of the five accredited CRFFN registered association to “work out modalities to put in people in the board so that the body will function.”
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