The ANLCA president, Hon. Iju Tony Nwabunike making his points during the meeting with his vice, Dr. Kayode Farinto to his left.
Story by Dili Utomi.
The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) yesterday at its national executive council meeting which held at its Dikko Inde House secretariat at Amuwo Odofin lamented the downturn of events with regard to the level of importation of goods into the country.
In a well attended meeting which had executive committee members of the association from the different zones of the country in attendance, the President of the association, Hon. Iju Tony Nwabunike made the assertion while presenting his speech at the occassion. In the words of Hon. Nwabunike “There is need for the national executive committee (of ANLCA) to seek audience with the federal government through the federal ministry of finance before things get out of hand. The level of importation has dropped drastically by about fifty percent (50%) lately as a result of the high handedness by the present management team of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)”.
Members listen with rapt attention at the meeting.
One should recall that both the ANLCA and the management team of the NCS have been at daggers drawn over several areas of disagreement which resulted in the latter accusing the ANLCA of obstructing the NCS in performing its statutory functions. In his speech, the ANLCA President made reference to the letter of accusation and the subsequent invitation by the National Assembly in Abuja for proper clarification of the imbroglio. He said that the encounter at the National Assembly resulted in the ANLCA convincing the House Committee on Customs to force the Nigeria Customs Service to discuss with its national executive committee on all issues particularly the arbitrary jack up of the value of the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) and that in line with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) 2013 recommendations that all Customs Organisations must form synergies with Brokers Associations by forming the Customs Consultative Council (CCC). The ANLCA has variously accused the management of the NCS of being aprobrate and reprobate at the same time as well as negating international best practices. In the association’s opinion, the actions of the NCS have led to the low level of the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) in Nigeria’s cargo deliverance output according to the rating by the World Bank.
A group photograph after the meeting.
The association used the forum also to call for the reorganisation of the management team of the NCS in order to revamp the ailing national economy. They also requested that the management give operators a Standard Operating Procedure that will be used in the “Implementation and operation of the newly acquired Scanning Machine before it is bastardised”.
On the very important matter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), the Association has nominated several persons who include it’s vice president, Dr. Kayode Colin Farinto to represent her at the federal government level as they ask their members who have good contributions to make to submit their suggestions to either their representatives or through the NECOM.
The matter regarding the intention of the Terminal Operators to increase their charges was also discussed and it was reported that the association has been invited for a meeting on the matter. The thorny issue of the contentious election into the board of the Council for the Registration of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) was also discussed as it relates to the agreement between the ANLCA and the five accredited Freight Forwarding Associations and it was noted that though the matter has been exacebated by some so-called renegade and expelled members, they hope that the matter will soon be resolved.
The various members from the different zones of the association made several inputs as regards the perculiarities and complexities in the operations within each zone and it was agreed that the various structural mechanisms put in place by the association would be used to handle these matters.
For more information, please call us on 08027590185, 08935721549 or email us at greatalternativenigltd@gmail.com
