CRFFN/POF: ANLCA Demands Reform, Transparency And Accountability

BY GBOGBOWA GBOWA

Given the growing dissent and legal uncertainty continue to swirl around the Practitioners Operating Fee (POF) collected by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has called for reform, transparency and accountability.

ANLCA’S call is coming on the heels of concerns by agents and industry stakeholders regarding alleged systemic corruption, lack of transparency, and what many describe as deliberate obfuscation of financial records by managers of the CRFFN.

Speaking on the issue with journalists, the Vice President of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Segun Oduntan wondered why an agency of government is saddled with a faceless consultant, and the government is reluctant to make a pronouncement on the unaccounted funds so far collected by the federal government appointed consultant; and how other funds available to the CRFFN has been utilised.

Despite years of remittances, Prince Oduntan like many declarants say they’re owed millions with no clarity on total collection of the fund.

“Even the Registrar admits not knowing how much was collected. Yet we’re still paying for every job. Who is this faceless consultant, SW Global?”, Oduntan asked.

He accused CRFFN and its managers of failure to uphold its statutory responsibilities, while alleging that funds have been misappropriated under the guise of regulatory oversight.

“Some people have been paying the Practitioners Operating Fee (POF) for years. Even as a declarant, I have a percentage I have contributed since inception of the payment but we don’t know the recipient of these payments. The Registrar even admitted they don’t know the total amount collected. So, how do I get my share when the person in charge can’t account for the total collection? And we have the first, second, and third CRFFN registrars all still alive.

He also wonder why of all the other statutory function of the CRFFN, its sole focus is on fee collection, even as he demanded explanation for the CRFFN has done with other modules of funding at its disposal.

“CRFFN receives subvention from the government. We also pay annually. And we still pay for every single job we handle. If I clear 10 containers now, I will pay N2,000 multiplied by the number of containers. What is it about POF? Is it the only thing the CRFFN can do? Is it the only thing they are meant to be after? Is that the fundamental reason for its establishment? I don’t understand it. Why is the POF issue brought up repeatedly, only for it to be bastardized in the end?”

While accusing the federal government of milking importers and their agents Oduntan advocated the removal of the CRFFN from the ministry of marine and blue economy to the ministry of finance to mitigate the regime of excessive levies.  

“In today’s Nigeria, even in your community association, would someone just bring in a consultant without anyone knowing, and that person collects all your money without accountability? Who is this faceless consultant, SW Global? They can’t unravel it; they can’t tell us how much they’ve been collecting even from us, declarants. In the first place, are we not even supposed to be under the Ministry of Finance which licensed us. Isn’t Customs that licensed us under the Ministry of Finance?

“So, just because we operate in the maritime sector, does that mean everyone must regulate us? Customs collects fees every year. The Ministry of Transport collects fees on every job. Who is encouraging CRFFN? It’s the Ministry of Transport, they have their people in the Council. Is that how it’s supposed to be? That’s why you see that the CRFFN cannot function.

“As long as the Ministry still has its hand in it, people just go there, collect sitting allowances, and go home. No meaningful contribution because they lack the experience. Is the Minister not seeing what is happening?

“It was the same when Amaechi (Chibuike Amaechi) was there; it’s just about POF. It’s only the money they are interested in, and that money is going somewhere you and I don’t know. As of today, from inception of POF payments, I can say l have over N15 million to collect as a declarant. Let us have the audit, because the Act also stipulates the sharing formula among the registered associations. Funny enough the Registrar is asking for collaboration. What collaboration can we give him? What will those we are representing say? That we are conniving with them?”

He also wondered why an audit of the CRFFN Act is not been activated by the federal government.

“For anyone to misappropriate funds in today’s Nigeria, they must be prepared, because people are ready to conduct in-depth research and take appropriate court actions into these illegal charges”, he declared.

He also accused the CRFFN and its supervisory Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy of effort to weaken the recent legal judgment that stopped the CRFFN from farther collection of the POF from customs agents through executive rascality and regulatory pushback.  

While the CRFFN’s foundational objective is to regulate and professionalize freight forwarding, politicians succeeded in the takeover of the Council where its appointees and officials seconded from the supervising ministry and elsewhere prioritize POF revenue over industry development.

“It’s only the money they are interested in. That money is going somewhere you and I don’t knowOduntan lamented.

As matters stand, stakeholders like Oduntan while decrying the apparent contempt of court by the ministry of marine and blue economy and the council, for insisting on the collection of POF despite court express ruling to the contrary, stakeholders also desire immediate policy rollback.

This involves the disbandment and restructuring of CRFFN, forensic audit of the council, together with public disclosure of its findings; and by far the most important, urgent investigation into SW Global’s contractual role and financial operations.

It is instructive that as stakeholders and freight forwarders call for a systemic reform in the council’s operation, the POF debacle has become a litmus test for Nigeria’s commitment to regulatory integrity, judicial independence, and sectoral modernization.