ANLCA, NAFFAC, Others Direct Members to Stop Payment of POF to CRFFN, Following Lucky Amiwero’s Court Judgement

Following the court judgement of the Federal High Court secured by the National President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) Mr Lucky Eyis Amiwero which states that the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) should suspend collection of the controversial Practitioners Operating Fee (POF) from Customs Licensed Agents, four out of the five Freight Forwarding associations under the CRFFN have directed their members to stop payment of the POF to terminal operators at the point of cargo clearance.

Presidents of the four associations namely; Emenike Nwokeoji of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Bala Lawan Daura of Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFFN) Chief Ifeanyi Anakweze, President of a faction of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) as well as Prince Adeyinka Bakare of National Association of Air Freight Forwarders and Consolidators (NAFFAC) in a joint press release made available to journalists in Lagos on Friday, subsequently warned terminal 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”

Speaking further at the joint press conference held by the four associations at the ANLCA headquarters in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos on Friday, ANLCA National President, Emenike Kingsley Nwokeoji said that the court judgement, though secured by President of a faction of the NCMDLCA, Mr Lucky Amiwero, affects all licensed customs agents, and that the associations cannot continue to fold its hands as CRFFN tries to disobey the court judgment by directing terminal operators to continue the POF Collection without first appealing the court judgement in court.

Emenike said “I have read an article written by some of you on the judgment that was obtained against the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), and we are here to address you on this issue.

“The major issue we want to address here at the press conference is on how we implement 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, that they should disobey the court judgment, but we said No, that this issue is getting to the angle where it would be unfair for us now 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 said let us invite a few of you to tell you our position based on the legal interpretations we have gotten from our different legal advisers of the various associations.

“It is a court judgment, and as a citizen, you are expected to do one thing, once a judgment is obtained: obey the court judgment. Even if you are not comfortable with the judgment, I believe all the parties involved—CRFFN, NPA, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy—they have legal departments. I believe that their legal department cannot tell them to just throw away a court judgment.

“The courts are not there joking; they are there to protect me and you, as you have made us to understand that they are the hope of the common man”

Emenike argued that stopping the collection of the POF does not harm operations of the CRFFN in anyway because the money goes directly into the Federal government account.

“CRFFN was running before POF was introduced, they have budgetary allocations. It would be wrong for you to encourage anybody to disobey court judgments. That would lead to self-harm” he warmed

Also speaking, NAFFAC President, Prince Adeyinka Bakare stressed that the court judgment applies to all customs license holders, adding that, as a freight forwarder, you cannot operate at the ports or transact business with the customs or clear cargoes without possessing a customs license.
According to him, 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.

“Ordinarily, we would have joined in the suit, you get me? But we allowed it to flow. So it is on that basis; the outcome of the suit will impact on us. That is why we are saying what we are saying, not because they have a faction or not faction. They are all customs license agents

“Now, out of five accredited associations under the CRFFN, four already said they are not going to pay the POF” he said