Headlines

Ameachi ends tenure elongation of CRFFN board members

–— fixes elections for October 9th.

Eyewitness reporter

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Ameachi, may have put paid to the ambition of the members of the current governing board of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) who are fighting tooth and nail to elongate their tenure in office.

The 32- member Council board, which was inaugurated in November 2018, has two- year tenure which expired in 2020.

But the members have since refused to go one year after, having surreptitiously extended their tenure to a four-year term which they attempted to legalise through a botched subterranean ploy to amend the council act.

However, the ploy for tenure elongation has now fallen through as the Ministry of Transportation has fixed the Council elections for October 2021.

Even though the election timetable came one year after the tenure of the council has expired, the move has however effectively foreclosed any possible tenure elongation.

In a circular made public and signed by the Electoral Committee Chairman, A. D. Suleiman, the15 professional members would be drawn from the Western port, Eastern port, and Airports/ land borders.

The pattern of this year’s elections is a radical departure from what it used to be.

Unlike the traditional pattern where members are drawn from the five registered freight forwarding associations, this year’s elections are based on geographical locations of freight forwarders at Western Ports, Eastern ports, and airport/land borders from where the 15 members into the council will be drawn through elections.

The 15 elected members will join the 17 government-appointed members to form a 32- member Council.

As the election of the new board is slated for October, operational vehicles assigned to the outgoing members are yet to be returned to the Council.

Abubakar Tsanni, Chairman, Governing board of CRFFN and Ameachi

The circular reads thus:

“Sequel to the expiration of the two-year tenure of the Governing Board of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has constituted an electoral committee to conduct the election into the Governing Board of the Council.

“This is in line with the powers conferred on him by Section 2 (1) (f) of the CRFFN Act 2007.

According to a Public Notice issued in Abuja on Thursday by the Chairman of the Electoral Committee, A.D. Suleiman, the Act Provides that an elected or appointed member of the Governing Council shall hold office for a period of two (2) years beginning from the date of the election or appointment as applicable.

“The notice recalled that Section 2(1) (g) of the enabling Act states that that five persons to be elected from amongst registered freight forwarders operating in each of the following zones: Western Ports – 5, Eastern Ports – 5, Cargo Airports/Land Borders – 5.

“It went on to inform all eligible registered freight forwarders that the Electoral Committee would commence the election process as contained in the timetable as follows:

“Nomination Form: 6th –17th September 2021; Collection and submission of completed nomination forms shall be within ten (10) days from 10 am to 4 pm daily in the following locations: Lagos – Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) No. 1 Joseph Harden Street, Marina, Lagos (contact Mrs. Ogwuche-Obe Ene Helen – staff of the Ministry, Phone – 08033071392).

“Abuja – Federal Ministry of Transportation, Maritime Services Department, 4th Floor, Central Business Area, Abuja (contact: Solomon Zaks, 3rd Floor, Phone – 08035891726).

“Port-Harcourt – Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) office, Behind Wesham Filling Station, Camp Round About, Onne/Eleme Road, Onne, Port-Harcourt, Rivers State (contact: Mrs. Nwosu J. Uchechi – Staff of the Ministry, Phone – 08060621320).

“The notice further stated that screening of candidates will hold in Lagos 21st – 22nd September 2021, while that of Abuja will hold on the 24th September 2021 from 10, am t0 4 pm daily.

According to the notice, screening of candidates from the Western and Eastern ports will hold at the Rock View Hotels, Apapa on 21st and 22nd of September, 2021 from 10 am to 4 pm daily while screening of candidates from cargo airports/ land borders will hold at the Federal Ministry of Transportation Conference Room, 8th Floor, Abuja on Friday 24th September, 2021 from 10 am to 4 pm.

“While accreditation of candidates holds on 7th to 8th October 2021 in Abuja, the display of contestants’ list will be on the 8th October 2021 at the venue of the election, CRFFN office Abuja and Federal Ministry of Transportation office Abuja respectively.

“The election, according to the notice, is scheduled to hold on the 9th October 2021 at the National Women Centre, opposite CBN Headquarters, Abuja.

“It went on to state that the deadline on receipt of complaints arising from the election is scheduled to hold on Monday 11th October 2021 while the decision on all complaints received will be on Tuesday 12th October 2021.

“The notice advised all interested freight forwarders registered with the CRFFN to pay a non-refundable fee of five hundred thousand Naira (N500,000) for the nomination form into the CRFFN number and nomination form will be issued on presentation of a receipt of payment at the designated points of the two operational zones of the Council and the Federal Ministry of Transportation as indicated above.

“It provided the account details as follow:

“Account Name: Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) TSAA AccountNumber: 0020494461014G GIFMISCODE: 0229006001

“In view of the above, all registered freight forwarders should adhere strictly to the election timetable by this publication of the notice. Also, note that guidelines for the conduct of the election would be given at the point of collecting nomination forms”, the circular concluded.

The outgoing governing board will go down in the history of the CRFFN as the most controversial, self-serving, ineffective, inefficient, and laid-back council which tenure was substantially characterised by in-fighting and treachery.

It was a general consensus in the freight forwarding industry that the council did not add value to the professional well-being of average freight forwarders.

Rather, the council was busy pursuing its own self-serving agenda that was at variance with the welfare of its members.

Headlines

Alleged N8.5bn Fraud: You Have Case To Answer, Lagos Court Tells NIMASA Staff, Ex-JTF Commander

The Eyewitness Reporter

Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Monday, April 22, 2024, told a former Commander of the Joint Military Task Force, Operation Pulo Shield, Major-General Emmanuel Atewe (rtd.), and a staff of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Kime Engonzu, that they have a case to answer in the alleged N8.5bn money laundering case brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Atewe and Engonzu are standing trial on a 22-count charge bordering on money laundering to the tune of N8, 537,586,798.58, which also involves a former Director-General of NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolokemi, and Josephine Otuaga, also a staff of NIMASA.

One of the counts reads: “That you, Patrick Ziadeke Akpobolokemi, Major General Emmanuel Atewe, Kime Engozu, and Josphine Otuaga, sometime in 2014, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Court, with intent to defraud, conspired amongst yourselves to commit an offence to wit: conversion of the sum of N8,537,586,798.58 property of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18 (a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2012 and punishable under Section 15 (3) of the same Act.”

They pleaded “not guilty” to the charges, thereby prompting the commencement of their trial.

In the course of the trial, the prosecution called several witnesses and subsequently closed its case against the defendants.

However, the defendants, rather than open their defence, filed a no-case-submission.

Akpobolokemi had, in a no-case submission, filed by his lawyer, Dr. Joseph Nwobike, SAN, prayed the court for an acquittal without having him present a defence.

Ruling on the no-case submission on Monday, Justice Faji discharged and acquitted Akpobolokemi and Otuaga, the fourth defendant.

He, however, ruled that Atewe, the second defendant, and Engonzu, the third defendant, should open their defence in counts 12 to 22 of the charge.

Headlines

EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukayode, threatens to resign if Yahaya Bello is not brought to justice.

Ola Olukayode, EFCC Chairman

The Eyewitness Reporter

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Mr Ola Olukoyede has expressed his determination to bring the fleeing former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello to justice, vowing to resign if he fails to do so.

The EFCC boss made the pledge on Tuesday in Abuja while addressing media executives at the Corporate Headquarters of the commission.

Bello has been on the run and declared wanted by the anti-graft agency over an allegation of money laundering to the tube of N80,246,470,089.88 (Eighty Billion, Two Hundred and Forty-Six Million, Four Hundred and Seventy Thousand and Eighty Nine Naira, Eighty Eight Kobo).

The EFCC boss declared that the fleeing former Kogi State Governor can only run but cannot hide.

He also revealed how he made personal efforts to invite the suspect to respond to investigations regarding his alleged involvement in money laundering allegations.

According to the EFCC Chairman, he had a telephone conversation with Bello offering him ample opportunities to present himself for interrogation by investigators of the EFCC.

“On my honour, I put a call to him to honour him as a former governor.

” He said, I can’t come, claiming that a certain lady has surrounded the EFCC with over 100 Journalists to embarrass or intimidate him and all that stuff.

“I said if that is your fear, I will make you come directly to my floor. I will invite my operatives to interrogate you in my own office.

” What could be more honourable than that? Do you know what he said? ‘Can’t they come to my village?’ My Director of Investigations also sent a message to him”, he said.

The EFCC’s boss said he was worried at the report of larceny available to the EFCC concerning the former governor.

“A sitting governor, because he knew he was going, he moved money directly from the government’s account to a bureau-de-change to pay his children’s school fees in advance, $720,000, in anticipation that he was going to leave government house”, he said.

He denied the claim that he was being used against Bello, saying he inherited the case file on the suspect.

Olukoyede also disclosed that the EFCC, in its bid to ensure the safety and stability of the foreign exchange market, has uncovered a new fraudulent scheme called P2P, peer to peer trading scheme.

The platform, according to him, is operating outside the official banking and financial corridors, with more than 300 (Three hundred) accounts linked to it already frozen by the EFCC.

He disclosed that if the EFCC has not moved against these Ponzi operators, the Nigerian economy would have once again crashed.

He reaffirmed the commitment of the Commission to the economic growth and development of the country, promising that the EFCC would not relent in the exercise of its mandate.

He told the media executives that the Commission has recovered more than N120billion from fraudsters within six months and secured more than 1300 convictions.

He called on Nigerians to be more dedicated to the nation, insisting that patriotic Nigerians should offer more support to the EFCC because the Commission is crucial to the growth and development of Nigeria.

‘’If you support the EFCC, you are working for the growth of Nigeria. We all have stakes in the well-being of our nation”, he said.

Headlines

EFCC denies disobeying court order on Yahaya Bello

Ola Olukayode, EFCC Chairman

The Eyewitness Reporter

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) has denied the widely held claim that it flouted a court order restraining it from arresting or harassing Yahaya Bello, the former Governor of Kogi State.

The EFCC said this clarification became necessary against the backdrop of arguments and counter-arguments on whether the anti-graft agency has disobeyed a court order concerning the botched arrest of the former governor of Kogi State.

In a Press Statement signed by the EFCC’s Acting Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, the Commission clearly pointed out that though Bello sought refuge in a fundamental rights enforcement action through an order granted by Justice Isa Jamil Abdulallahi of the Kogi State High Court, the order did not vitiate or nullify an order made by the Federal High Court for the arrest of the former governor for the purpose of his arraignment.“The enrolled Order of the Kogi State High Court only granted an order to enforce Bello’s right to personal liberty and freedom of movement, it didn’t preclude the Federal High Court ‘to make any Order as it may deem just in the determination of the rights of the Applicant and the Respondent as may be submitted to her for consideration and determination”, he said.

He further stressed that “The Order made by the Federal High Court for the arrest of Mr. Yahaya Bello for the purpose of his arraignment is not in conflict with the Order of the Kogi State High Court.

“The case before the Federal High Court is a criminal charge which is different from the fundamental rights enforcement action that is the subject of an appeal”.

Uwujaren pointed out that the EFCC had a shining track record in the prosecution of politically exposed persons and would continue to exercise its mandate in the overall interest of the nation.

” He admonished Bello to turn himself in and answer to the charges preferred against him by the Commission.

He called on all patriotic Nigerians to lend their voices in support of the Commission stressing that ” the EFCC will not relent in its quest to wrestle corruption to the ground”