Compliance Team vows to expose corrupt practices, officials at ports

The newly reconstituted 100% Compliance Team of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), has taken proactive steps towards realising its mandate of exposing corrupt practices at the nation’s ports.

To achieve this, Ibrahim Tanko, the national coordinator of the Compliance Team, appointed Stanley Ejiogu, the former vice chairman of the Tin-Can Island Chapter of NAGAFF, as the head of operations of the Team.

Tanko, who announced this during the inaugural meeting of the newly reconstituted Team, in Lagos recently, said the appointment has become necessary in order to commence the execution of their plans.

He solicited the cooperation of chapter chairmen of NAGAFF to enable them to discharge their duties in the interest of the freight forwarders, NAGAFF, and other stakeholders in the industry.

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Pointing out that it would no longer be business as usual for port officials, Tanko said that his team would work with the security agencies including the Police, EFCC, and the ICPC to ensure total compliance with trade rules.

He assured that going forward undue delay of cargo at the ports, demurrages, multiple alerts, and overcharges would be a thing of the past.

“We want to ensure that people do the right thing. For example, if the President assigns responsibility to the Minister, directors, and others, if such persons fail to perform, they should be blamed, not the President. Bonded terminals have increased their transfer charges without consulting port users. This means that there are a lot of issues,” he said.

He however urged his team to be committed to their duties and ensure honesty, and transparency in carrying out their task in order to fulfill their mandate.

Fred Ajuzie, the chairman of the Compliance Team, Western Avenue said there is a need for seriousness, commitment, and dedication by the members towards the actualisation of the set targets.

Ajuzie urged its members to go the extra mile in their assignments in order to achieve results.

In his acceptance speech, Stanley Ejiogu, the newly appointed head of operations of the 100% Compliance Team, described his new position as a herculean task but pledged to live up to expectations.