‘We Align With Court Judgment Stopping POF Collection’ CRFFN 4 Accredited Associations

…Vow To Resist Forceful Collection As Anakweze  of NCMDLCA Recapitulate

BY GBOGBOWA GBOWA

The battle surrounding the collection of the controversial Practitioners Operating Fees (POF) imposed on individual licensed customs agents by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), experienced mild rumbling yesterday, Friday July 18, 2025 when four out of the five registered associations that constitute CRFFN applauded the recent court judgment that overruled the collection.

Recalled that Mr. Lucky Amiwero, founding President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) who dragged CRFFN to court to stop the collection of POF, secured a landslide victory as the High Court ruled that the demand to collect the POF from customs agents was unsupported by law.

At a meeting of the leadership of the four accredited associations, namely, Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), National Association of Air Freight Forwarders and Consolidators (NAFFAC), National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) and Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFFN)  at ANLCA National Secretariat, the four presidents also directed their members to immediately stop the payment of POF in line with the court ruling.

During the joint press conference, the groups also warned CRFFN, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and terminal operators to respect the court ruling and not to engage in any unconstitutional behaviour that will disrupt practitioners activities at ports.

Presidents of the four associations namely; Emenike Nwokeoji of ANLCA; Prince Adeyinka Bakare of NAFFAC; Bala Lawan Daura of AREFFN – represented by AREFFN Secretary, Chief Frank Obiekezie; and a factional President of the NCMDLCA, Chief Ifeanyi Anakweze; warned port operators to desist from collecting the POF forthwith or face contempt of the court.

The joint statement read: “We are writing to inform you of the Federal High Court judgment delivered on May 26, 2025, by Justice D.E. Osiagor in Suit No. FHC/CS/765/2018 between NATIONAL COUNCIL OF MANAGING DIRECTORS OF LICENSED CUSTOMS AGENTS vs. 1. MINISTER OF TRANSPORT, 2. NIGERIA PORTS AUTHORITY (NPA) and 3. COUNCIL FOR THE REGULATION OF FREIGHT FORWARDING IN NIGERIA (CRFFN).

“This judgment nullifies the collection of Practitioners Operating Fees (POF) from Customs Licensed Agents. As Customs Licensed Agents, we demand that you immediately cease the collection of POF from our members in compliance with this court order. Continuing to collect these fees would be a direct disregard of the court’s judgment.

“We specifically urge you to disregard the letter Reference No. CRFFN/RCEO/POF/CIRC/07/2025 dated July 10, 2025, which incorrectly advises the continued collection of POF in defiance of the aforementioned judgment. We swiftly noticed that the CRFFN letter lacks an official signature from any council official, which suggests the author was attempting to avoid impending contempt of court criminal proceedings.

“We are confident that you will uphold the rule of law in this matter.”

ANLCA National President, Emenike Nwokeoji explained that the court judgment secured by Mr Lucky Amiwero benefits all licensed customs agents, and hence the associations will not sit on the fence and allow CRFFN disobey the court judgment in view of the latter’s threat for terminal operators to continue to enforce the collection of the POF.

“The major issue we want to address here at the press conference is the implementation of the judgment. While we subjected the judgment to our different legal department interpretations, we now saw a release signed by management of CRFFN urging terminal operators, which was listed on the rider, to disobey the court judgment. We say no!

“This issue has gotten to the stage where it would be unfair for us to sit back and watch knowing that we are operating in a country that is governed by the rule of law. That was why we decided to hold this press conference based on the legal interpretations we have gotten from our different legal advisers of the various associations.

“It is a court judgment, once a judgment is obtained; it is either obeyed or an appeal is made. If you are not comfortable with the judgment, all the parties involved- CRFFN, NPA, Terminal Operators are all under the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy and they all have legal departments. I believe that their legal department cannot tell them to just throw away a court judgment,” he said.

Also speaking, NAFFAC President, Prince Adeyinka Bakare, said the position of the respective associations doesn’t mean they want the CRFFN to run aground, sttressing that the Council has legitimate budgetary provisions to handle its obligations.

He equally observed that the court judgment applies to all customs license holders, adding that, as a freight forwarder, one cannot operate at the ports or transact business with the customs or clear cargoes without possessing a customs license.

Bakare explained that NAFFAC members, who predominantly operates at the airports, are equally subjected to other licenses from Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) among others, which any freight forwarder willing to clear cargo from the airport must possess.

On his part, the President of AREFFN, represented at the briefing by the National Secretary of the Association, Francis Obiekezie, noted that, regardless of the internal crisis within the NCMDLCA, the court judgment must be obeyed to the letter.

“Lucky Amiwero is a customs license agent. He is doing most of the things that we are doing, the court he went to is a Nigerian court; the court is not the Council of Managing Directors’ court.

“So we are following what happened, and we are principal stakeholders in the case he went to court upon, so the outcome will affect us.”

Interestingly, the POF saga experienced a twist as the factional NCDMLCA President, Chief Ifeanyi Anakweze, who earlier antagonized  the judgment, came around and encouraged NCMDLCA members to obey the suit won by Mr. Lucky Amiwero; despite challenging Amiwero’s focus in the matter.

Anakweze maintained that aside the internal rivalry in the NCDMLCA, the victory obtained by Amiwero is one that should be endorsed by all Nigerian freight forwarders.