CRFFN ELECTION: New Governing Council emerges, Chairman to be elected July 12

In what was unanimously described as a peaceful, credible, all-inclusive and largely consensus elections, the 15-member Governing Council was on Saturday in Lagos elected into the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding of Nigeria(CRFFN).

The newly -elected Governing Council members, drawn from five registered freight forwarding associations that are the federating units ,would be joined by 17 government appointees into the council.

The five registered associations are National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarding, (NAGAFF), Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, (NCMDLCA), National Association of Air Freight Forwarding and Consolidation (NAAFFC) and Association of Registered Freight Forwarders in Nigeria (ARFFN).

The 15 newly elected officials comprised of six each from NAGAFF and ANLCA and one each from ARFFN, NCMDLCA and NAAFFC.

CRFFN had been operating without a Governing Council for more than five years.
The new Governing Council was elected for four-year tenure.

Speaking after the election, the Registrar of CRFFN, Mike Jukwe, urged the freight forwarders to collaborate in order to speedily take the profession to greater heights.
Jukwe said: “Our mandate is to regulate and control freight forwarding in Nigeria.
“Now that we have a Governing Council, policies will be made for the management to execute.
“The policies are geared towards taking the freight forwarding sub sector from where it is to a higher level of best international norms and practices.”

The CRFFN registrar said the 32-member Governing Council would elect its chairman and vice chairman among themselves after their retreat in Abuja on July 12.
Also speaking after the election, NAGAFF Founder, Chief Boniface Aniebonam, expressed optimism that the new governing council would sustain and meet up with its mandate.

Aniebonam said: “This is the first time all the five registered associations are speaking with one voice, which would also have positive impact on the Council.
“I see the need for all the associations to collaborate because the cooperation led to the peaceful election conducted into the council.”

Aniebonam urged the newly elected council members to regulate the industry in line with international standards and train operators on the rudiments of freight forwarding practice.

Chief Henry Njoku, the Chairman, board of Trustees of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) who spoke on behalf of the elected officials, said the Governing Council would look into the challenges facing the industry and tackle them.

Njoku said the new council would ensure smooth operations that would enhance the success of Federal Government’s mandate on Ease of Doing Business in Nigerian ports.

In the same vein, Tony Iju Nwabunike, the National President of ANLCA, said he was satisfied with the peaceful conduct of the elections which he believed would usher in a new dawn in freight forwarding industry in Nigeria.

The CRFFN was brought into being by an Act of Parliament in 2007 to regulate and control the practice of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria.