By Kenneth Jukpor
Amid the crisis brewing in the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) daily, the President of African Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON), Mr. Frank Ogunojemite has joined calls for the sack of the CRFFN Registrar, Barr. Samuel Nwakohu.
The APFFLON boss made this call based on Nwakohu’s refusal to clarify the alleged financial misappropriation at the Council for almost two months.
APFFLON in a press statement signed by the National President, Ogunojemite stressed that Nwakohu’s disregard of the lingering allegations of corruption was sufficient reasons for his sack.
“The fact that the CRFFN Registrar has refused to clarify his actions in the financial misappropriation could mean that Nwakohu is guilty and doesn’t know how to react. It could also be that he is unperturbed because he has the backing of his godfather who happens to be the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi. Either way, his actions should lead to his sack or suspension until he can comprehensively explain his financial activities at CRFFN,” the APFFLON report said.
Meanwhile, the deepening crisis is worsening by the day with estranged members of the Governing Board of the Council calling for the sack of both the Chairman, Rtd. Col. Tsanni Abubakar and Registrar, Nwakohu.
The elected council members according to a statement credited to Nwakohu have outlived their usefulnessin the Council, having served their full tenure of two years.
Nwakohu was alleged to have publicly declared that the tenure of the present Governing Council Members who are seeking tenure elongation through a possible amendment of the CRFFN Act has expired.
However, on the other hand, some members of the Board have attacked the Registrar and the Chairman, saying both are not qualified to be in their positions.
The aggrieved Board members are planning a mass protest to call for the removal of both the Chairman and Registrar whose appointment has since been renewed by the government.
The board members are angry that both Chairman and Registrar are planning a repeat of what happened in the era of Sir Mike Jukwe as Registrar when he remained in office for years without organising an election that brought the present board members of the Council into office.
The protest, according to the Board members, will be taken to the National Assembly and the Ministry of Transportation whose alleged actions according to the Council members have aided fraud in the Council.
The Board members said they have details of the budgets in the Council and projects claimed to have been executed which present physical states do not support documented claims by those running the Council.
The Board members are accusing the management of the Council of projects recycling and extravagant expenditure without considering the financial size of the Council.
A Board member has also accused the National Assembly of failure to unveil the allged fraud in CRFFN during the oversight functions of the legislators and budget defence.
“The National Assembly should check the past four years budgets of the Council. The same projects are being budgeted for as against four years ago when there was claim that the projects were 90 percent completed”, one of the board members who pleaded anonymity alleged.
The Registrar was also accused of discrepancies in what his real age is, as he was alleged to have quoted being 59 years during job interview, while in actual fact he was 63years.
Part of the allegation against the Registrar include that the Registrar also lied having told the Recruitment Committee, when asked of his Professional experience with the maritime industry, he taunted to have undertaken consultancy services with the NPA. However, later findings showed there was no single trace of his engagement nor his company with the NPA.
