The Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics in Nigeria has called for transparency in the election into the governing board of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria.
The President of APFFLON, Frank Ogunojemite, in a telephone conversation with Financial Street on Friday, reiterated the need for a total departure from what played out four years ago.
He kicked against selection of candidates by associations, adding that independent candidates, who registered with CRFFN, should be allowed to contest in its board elections.
The APFFLON boss condemned the “selection of candidates by associations” whereas every CRFFN freight forwarder registered individually and not by their association.
His words, “At the expiration of the tenure of former council members, a caretaker committee ought to have been set up in the interim to prepare the ground for the next governing board election, thereby leaving no vacuum.”
He noted that the tenure of the present governing board had officially expired, yet no one could actually say what was playing out at the council.
Insisting that no one should hide behind any association to contest election, he advocated proper screening of candidates.
“We must evaluate their qualifications. They must prove to us what they have done and what they intend to contribute, so that we would know who to hold responsible in terms of inefficiency.
“If they fail to go by individuals, some people will be disenfranchised. Section 4 of the CRFFN Act made provision for the individuals. If it is in the Act, l don’t know why it cannot be practised,” said Ogunojemite.
According to him, there are requirements for an association to be registered with CRFFN, one of which is that any association that is not paying dues should be de-registerd. He queried if the laws were being followed?
Ogunojemite then called for review of all the five registered freight forwarding associations with CRFFN, adding that they had consistently failed to meet the council’s membership requirements.
He demanded the review of individual financial records.
Blaming the inefficiency of the CRFFN management on non-compliance of members, he called for thorough review of the council’s leadership.
The inefficiency of the CRFFN management may end up debilitating the strength and vision of the council, he added.
