CRFFN to ensure freight forwarders get commission on their declarations - debunks allegation of financial impropriety

ZION Olalekan |

Customs brokers may start to collect commission on customs duties they pay on their declarations if what the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria(CRFFN) said holds water.
According to the Vice Chairman of the Council, Chief Henry Njoku, now that the regulatory body of freight forwarding industry in Nigeria has stabilised, every declaration made by Customs brokers would earn them commission.

” Now that the Council has been stabilized, the board has ensured that clearing agents get some commission and percentage from all their declarations.

“This is a percentage which they have not gotten before in their life, this is the first Council that made it garzetted that when agents pay money, certain commission be given back to them”

“The second quarter of the year, what we are doing is to put in places standard for every agents including education to make sure that everybody is on the same page” Chief Njoku declared.

He assured that with the gazetting of the Practitioners Operations Fee (POF) by the Federal Executive Council, collection of the fund would commence very soon.

Meanwhile, the Council has said that it would delist from its register freight forwarders who not acquired FIATA diploma by 2021.
This is even as the Council unveiled a new official logo for the agency.

The CRFFN logo now carried Nigeria coat of arms in the middle which now reflects it as a government owned parastatal, as well as symbols of the various modes of transport; rail, ship, air plane and trucks.

Speaking with journalists at the 22nd Governing Council Meeting held in Marina Lagos, Chairman Governing Board of CRFFN, Col. Abubakar Tsanni commended the Registrar of the Council, Barr Samuel Nwakohu for coming up with the logo.

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari on his recent directive that articulated trucks should vacate the access roads leading to the ports while lamenting that for several years, the gridlock has been the bane of businesses in Apapa.

While reacting to a recent allegation by the Founder of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) Dr. Boniface Aniebonam that there is financial impropriety in the Council, Tsanni debunked the insinuations, saying that the NAGAFF founder has since withdrawn his statement.

While unveiling the new CRFFN logo, he said “This would be our official logo, the Registrar, God bless you, we really need people like you with initiatives, with this, we are moving to the next level”

“There is nothing like financial impropriety against this council, I believe they (NAGAFF) have withdrawn their statement because they realised there is nothing like that, if there is anything like that, their members are here and I believe they are in the best position to say”

Also speaking, Vice Chairman of the Council, Chief Henry Njokwu said the Council had come on board, facing the challenges of recruiting a new registrar and getting some certain position of government in place.

On his part, Registrar of the Council, Barr Samuel Nwakohu informed the board of his teams’ immediate pursuit of acquisition of a corporate headquarters in Lagos to give the Council a corporate visibility with additional offices in Enugu and Sokoto, thereby bringing the number of zonal offices to six.

He assured that a one year strategic plan has been developed to give the Council a new direction, while a bi weekly management meeting has been institutionalised to strengthen team spirit among management staff.

Nwakohu revealed plans to celebrate his 100 days in office as means of engaging stakeholders and showcasing the unsung achievements of the Council.

” We have also created a website committee to work alongside with SW Global with the sole task of updating the website in terms of contents and structure to reflect the status of the Council and the scope of its operations” he said