POF COLLECTION: NIFFCB Doubts Letter Of Approval By Finance Ministry

By Roland Ekama, Lagos

 

The Nigerian Institute of Freight Forwarders and Customs Brokers (NIFFCB) has expressed doubts over the Ministry of Finance approval of the controversial Practitioners Operating Fee (POF) collection by the Council for the Regulations of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), alleging that the letter was “fake”.

National President of NIFFCB, Dr. Zebulon Ikokide in a chat on Saturday, in Lagos queried how a letter can be approved by the ministry without the consent of the National Assembly.

Ikokide said collection of POF is illegal and could send negative precedent to the Nigerian public and economy.

The President quipped that the approval of the collection of POF was not discussed on the floor of the National Assembly in any capacity, noting that the authenticity of the letter was questionable.

Ikokide called on practitioners to probe the collection of the fee and resist any form of payment which in turn could add to the cost of doing business at the port.

“I don’t agree actually that the Council should collect any practising fee and beside, it is wrong for them to come and tell the freight forwarders that the Minister of Finance wrote a letter to them.

“In actual fact, if EFCC should demand for the letter. You may see a letter but can the Minister stand and agree that she wrote a letter?

“The minister does not have the right to constitute or open up another agency to be collecting money for the federal government.

“Federal Government had Customs , NPA and Federal Inland Revenue Service, apart from this three, nobody can constitute another financial revenue collector for the country.

“The minister cannot do that unless CRFFN law is returned to the National Assembly for them to be approved as revenue generating organisation.

“The letter is a fake letter because the Minister would not agree to sign that letter. May be a clerk in the ministry wrote the letter and put it inside the papers that the Minister signed, maybe she signed without knowing the content or implications.”

Ikokide added that if the letter is investigated, it would be found out to be fake and the Minister would be in trouble for it.

Meanwhile, attempt by our correspondent to get response from the council’s spokesperson, Mrs Uromta prove abortive as her lines were not reachable.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, who gave the approval in a letter dated 6th January, 2020, and signed by the Director, Home Finance, Okokon Udo, a copy of which was sighted by stated that freight forwarders must henceforth show receipt of payment of POF before they can exit their cargoes at the ports.

At a sensitization workshop organised by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) in Lagos recently, stakeholders lamented that the implementation of the new directive by the Finance Minister will lead to congestion and increase the cost of doing business at the nation’s ports.

According to CRFFN, under the POF regime, importers will pay N3.50 per every ton of cargo imported into the country, N1.50 per kilo of every air cargo, N1, 000 on every imported 20-feet container and 2,000 per 40-feet container.

Although no new date has been fixed for the collection of the controversial POF after several failed attempts by the Council.

CRFFN, is however, expected to rake in as much as N10 billion annually from the imposition of these fees on shippers.